Newly released documents reveal Biden administration’s pressure on FB to suppress Daily Wire content and promote legacy outlets.
President Biden’s Administration Pressured Facebook to Stifle The Daily Wire’s Reach
Shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration exerted pressure on Facebook to limit the reach of The Daily Wire and boost the visibility of legacy media outlets, as revealed in recently released meeting notes provided to Congress.
The documents, reviewed by The Daily Wire, demonstrate that Facebook repeatedly assured the White House of its commitment to re-engineer its platform in order to fulfill the administration’s directives to suppress content that contradicted its COVID vaccine agenda.
The meeting notes, first reported by Just The News, outline discussions between then-White House Digital Director Rob Flaherty and Facebook executives in 2021. Flaherty urged the Big Tech company to moderate content related to COVID vaccines and prioritize news from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal over The Daily Wire and other “polarizing” entities.
“If you were to change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see NYT, WSJ, any authoritative news source over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people. You wouldn’t have a mechanism to check the material impact?” Flaherty asked Facebook employees during a conversation about influencing public opinion on COVID vaccines, according to the meeting notes.
At the time of the meeting in April 2021 and in the subsequent months, The Daily Wire was the leading publisher on Facebook, receiving significantly more clicks and reactions than the NYT, WSJ, and other conservative and liberal news sites. The meeting notes reveal that the Biden administration expressed concern about “misinformation” on the platform, which contributed to vaccine hesitancy among Americans.
“We have to explain to President, Ron, people, why there is misinfo on the internet, bigger problem than FB,” Flaherty was quoted as saying. “Where issues are, what interventions are, how well they are working, for products, want to engage in things that you know to be effective. I don’t even care about specific methodology, you have better, richer data than we’ll ever have.”
“What are the things driving hesitancy on your platform? What is it? How big is the problem? When you are intervening, how are you measuring success?” Flaherty inquired, according to the meeting notes.
During the meeting, Flaherty grew frustrated with Facebook’s inability to provide certain data requested by the White House and urged the company to cooperate.
“I feel like we’re running around in circles. Some partners give us lots of information, some partners tell us to f*** right off. This feels like we’re chasing our tails. If you don’t want to give information, just say that,” Flaherty is quoted as saying. “I don’t want to feel like I’m going to a dog and pony show. My dream for FB to play ball. It’s about will we get out of this f***ing mess.”
The Biden Administration’s Collusion with Facebook
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, has been releasing information on the extent to which the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor Americans. In his latest revelation, Jordan highlighted the administration’s targeting of The Daily Wire.
“The Biden White House wanted to control what you saw on Facebook,” Rep. Jordan wrote. “They questioned whether Facebook could change its algorithm so users saw more posts from the New York Times and less from The Daily Wire and Tomi Lahren.”
“Why did they do that?” he asked. “Because they didn’t think you were smart enough to decide for yourself.”
But that’s not all.
The Biden White House wanted to control what you saw on Facebook.
They questioned whether Facebook could change its algorithm so users saw more posts from the New York Times and less from the @realDailyWire and @TomiLahren. pic.twitter.com/oZUDDv6324
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 3, 2023
Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro responded to the communications between the White House and Facebook, stating, “The Biden White House’s pressure on Facebook to target Daily Wire for traffic reduction is an obvious, disgusting, and predictable First Amendment violation.”
“Government action is still government action even when the government is coercing private corporations to engage in censorship,” Shapiro added. ”We sued the Biden administration to stop the OSHA vaccine mandate, and we’re not afraid to take them to court again to protect free speech rights. We’re exploring all available remedies as we speak.”
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