Zuckerberg Aims for ‘Neutrality’ in Politics, Won’t Fund Election Infrastructure

Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that he intends to steer clear of political involvement in the upcoming 2024 elections. In a letter to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, who leads the House Judiciary Committee and has been notably critical of Zuckerberg, the Meta CEO expressed his commitment to remain politically neutral.

Zuckerberg emphasized that his aim is to avoid any perception of bias. “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role,” he stated in the letter, which has garnered attention after being reported by major news outlets.

This marks a shift from the previous election cycle. In 2020, Zuckerberg and his wife contributed $400 million to nonpartisan groups that were involved in election processes, particularly those adapted to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this funding, often referred to as “Zuckerbucks,” became contentious, with critics claiming that it gave an advantage to Democratic candidates.

In his recent communication, Zuckerberg reaffirmed that he will not make similar donations this time around. He defended the previous contributions by noting that they were intended to be nonpartisan and were allocated across various types of communities. “Still, despite the analyses I’ve seen showing otherwise, I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other,” he wrote.

Controversies surrounding the donations have persisted, but a study released earlier this year in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that private funding for elections, including Zuckerberg’s contributions, did not favor the Democratic Party.

The letter also delved into the contentious issue of content moderation on Meta’s platforms, which has faced scrutiny from Jordan and other Republican figures who argue that the company has censored conservative perspectives.

Zuckerberg discussed instances where he felt the Biden administration exerted undue pressure on Meta to censor COVID-19-related content. He recounted that in 2021, the White House expressed significant frustration when Meta opted not to comply. Internal communications revealed that Meta did remove certain content under pressure from the administration.

“Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure,” Zuckerberg stated, adding, “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.”

While Zuckerberg’s remarks were noteworthy, the White House has not issued any comments in response to the letter.

In a related development, Rep. Jordan recently threatened to hold Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress due to allegations of noncompliance with requests for documents related to conservative censorship.

Zuckerberg also took responsibility for Meta’s handling of a controversial story about Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020. He admitted that the company had suppressed the article while awaiting fact-checking and acknowledged, “In retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story.” He mentioned that Meta has since revised its processes, ensuring that stories would not be demoted pending fact-checking.

Previously, Zuckerberg had stated that suppressing the New York Post story was a mistake. However, when approached for further comments, Meta chose not to respond.

This commitment to neutrality and acknowledgment of past missteps signals Zuckerberg’s desire to navigate the increasingly fraught political landscape of 2024 with caution.