Facebook Gave CDC ‘Backdoor’ Access to Help Remove Millions of Social Media Posts

"Facebook provided the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 'backdoor' access to its platform so the CDC could submit requests to remove COVID-19 'misinformation,' according to an internal Facebook document made public for the first time as part of an ongoing legal case.

America First Legal filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2021, after then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed the Biden administration was flagging purported 'disinformation' on social media platforms, including content posted by members of the so-called 'Disinformation Dozen'...

Gene Hamilton, executive director of America First Legal, told The Defender, 'These documents show precisely how one of the social media platforms facilitated the federal government’s engagement in unconstitutional censorship activities'...

Calling it a 'fast lane for speech suppression,' Reclaim the Net reported that Facebook 'built a slick ‘end-to-end workflow’ tailored to the White House’s censorship needs,' which provided CDC staff with a four-step process to flag COVID-19 'misinformation' for removal.

'This was the red-carpet treatment for anyone in the Biden Administration looking to silence critics and manage dissent,' Reclaim the Net reported. 'The system could handle up to twenty censorship requests simultaneously.'

The Facebook document stated, 'We empower and safeguard users with policies that are: Principled, Operable, Explicable.' These policies were aligned with Facebook’s 'community standards' and adopted 'a multi-pronged approach to combating COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation.'

The policies — aimed at 'bringing 50 million people a step closer to vaccinations' — included the removal of 'false information that has been debunked by public health experts.'

Other types of content Facebook explicitly targeted include claims that COVID-19 is no more dangerous to people than the common flu or cold, and content discouraging 'good health practices'” — such as wearing a face mask, social distancing, getting tested for COVID-19 and getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Claims about the COVID-19 vaccines’ safety, side effects and efficacy also were targeted for removal, as were 'widely debunked vaccine hoaxes' — including claims that vaccines cause autism."