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FBI Responds To Mark Zuckerberg Claim It Helped Suppress Hunter Biden Laptop Story: "Warning to Facebook was of a general nature and did not include a call to action."
Epoch Times ^ | 08/27/2022 | Tom Ozimek

Posted on 08/27/2022 9:05:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

The FBI has responded to an explosive claim by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook algorithmically censored references to Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 election after receiving a warning from the agency about “Russian propaganda.”

Zuckerberg said on an Aug. 25 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that Facebook actively reduced the reach of social media posts discussing Hunter Biden’s laptop in response to an advisory from the FBI to some Facebook staffers to be on guard for Russian disinformation ahead of the presidential election.

“The background here is the FBI I think basically came to some folks on our team [and] were like, ‘Hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there’s about to be some kind of dump similar to that, so just be vigilant,’” Zuckerberg told Rogan.

Clips featuring Zuckerberg’s response to Rogan quickly went viral, prompting a flurry of takes critical of the FBI, with some accusing the agency of engaging in election interference.

Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan that the FBI reached out to Facebook to put them on notice that the Hunter Biden’s laptop story was similar to the previous Russian Propaganda and to be on high alert #joerogan #MarkZuckerberg #JRE pic.twitter.com/ojZHhK3isa — Giuseppe Mercadante (@itsmercadante) August 25, 2022

“This isn’t just insane, it’s election interference,” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) said in a statement, while calling on Zuckerberg to testify before Congress “about the FBI’s attempts to circumvent the First Amendment.”

A similarly scathing take was expressed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

“The same FBI who lied about Russian ‘collusion’ and raided President Trump’s home asked Facebook to manipulate its feed to bury the Hunter Biden story,” Jordan said in a statement.

FBI Reacts

As the controversy swirled, the FBI issued a statement to media outlets on Friday, saying that its warning to Facebook was of a general nature and did not include a call to action.

The FBI said it “routinely notifies U.S. private sector entities, including social media providers, of potential threat information, so that they can decide how to better defend against threats” and that the agency “has provided companies with foreign threat indicators to help them protect their platforms and customers from abuse by foreign malign influence actors.”

The FBI added, however, that it “cannot ask, or direct, companies to take action on information received.”

Meta also issued a clarifying statement, saying in a Twitter post that the remarks Zuckerberg made to Rogan were basically the same as what he told Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in 2020.

As we've said, nothing about the Hunter Biden laptop story is new. Below is what Mark told Sen. Johnson in Oct 2020 and what Mark told Joe Rogan this week. The FBI shared general warnings about foreign interference – nothing specific about Hunter Biden. https://t.co/pHtzvh6r0r — Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) August 26, 2022

“The FBI shared general warnings about foreign interference—nothing specific about Hunter Biden,” Meta said in the statement.

Zuckerberg told Rogan as much on the podcast when asked whether the FBI specified that Facebook needed to “be on guard” about the Hunter Biden laptop story.

“No. I don’t remember if it was that specifically. But it was, it basically fit the pattern,” Zuckerberg replied.

Hunter Biden’s Laptop

The laptop of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, became the subject of scandal and scrutiny in October 2020 after the New York Post broke the story on its contents, which included information about the younger Biden’s foreign dealings and sordid personal life.

After the story broke, much of its coverage by legacy media outlets was focused on the possibility that the laptop was Russian disinformation meant to damage Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

The laptop story was also suppressed by Facebook and Twitter, while a group of former intelligence officials came forward and said in a letter (pdf) that it had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

John Ratcliffe, then-director of national intelligence, said at the time that there was no intelligence that supported the claim that the laptop was Russian disinformation.

More recently, Ratcliffe told Fox News in an interview on Friday that, if the FBI did indeed try to suppress information about Hunter Biden’s laptop, this would amount to election interference.

“It is election interference, to the extent that these allegations are true that FBI agents were knowingly putting bad information out there, absolutely,” Ratcliffe said.

Polling has indicated that if the public had been aware of the suppressed story ahead of the election, it may have cost the elder Biden several percentage points of voters—possibly enough to thwart his bid for the White House.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: admissionofguilt; arrestwray; censorship; creepstate; deepstate; defundthefbi; electioninterference; elonmusk; facebook; fbi; hunterbiden; joerogan; markzuckerberg; musk; policestate; singlepartystate; treason; truthsocial; twitter; zuckerberg
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To: All

tomorrow’s headlines today—

BREAKING:

fbi legalizes solicitation


21 posted on 08/27/2022 9:51:44 PM PDT by SteveH (.all)
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To: TigersEye

Nice company youse got here. Be shame if sumptin would happen to it.


22 posted on 08/27/2022 9:54:37 PM PDT by VanShuyten ("...that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals)
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To: virgil
Democrats, DOJ and the media. Sounds like they worked together to suppress the story.
"The media" including Fox.
23 posted on 08/27/2022 9:56:19 PM PDT by lewislynn (Trump accomplished more in one term than any other President in your lifetime.)
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Why call Zuckerberg if there wasn't a problem?
If Zuckerberg ignored the FBI what do you suppose they would do?

I can't believe I'm defending Zuckerberg.
24 posted on 08/27/2022 10:05:36 PM PDT by Steve Van Doorn (*in my best Eric Cartman voice* 'I love you, guys')
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To: Maris Crane

I won’t be buying his book, that I can tell you. :p

I wondered because he accused Trump of extortion and so I thought Barr would also have some choice words for this (not really— just irritated about the ‘extortion’ bull and in a snit)


25 posted on 08/27/2022 10:24:25 PM PDT by Irenic
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To: All
4-F885-B75-212-B-434-D-B647-8822-D315347-E

This is just too convenient, Graham is funneling it to the DOJ.

Congress has oversight.




26 posted on 08/27/2022 10:30:39 PM PDT by AnthonySoprano (Lindsey Graham: How can anyone be Mad at Joe Biden?)
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To: Steve Van Doorn
If Zuckerberg ignored the FBI what do you suppose they would do?

The Mafia, oops, I mean the FBI, Freudian slip there, would fit him for concrete galoshes. I don’t know if the FBI would do that, but I don’t know if they wouldn’t either. Those A holes are not trustworthy.

27 posted on 08/27/2022 11:56:00 PM PDT by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of USAF pilot. USAF aviation runs in the family )
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To: SeekAndFind
The whole world needs to understand that a government exists at the force of gun in you face.   It can be no other way.

Get 20 traffic tickets, attempt to resist arrest and by the degree of resistance, they will kill you.

It is the same for every agency and agent.   Any fool who thinks otherwise is, just that, a fool.

28 posted on 08/28/2022 12:01:55 AM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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To: SeekAndFind

Zuckerturd knew exactly what his job was to be. He really didn’t need a push from the FBI.


29 posted on 08/28/2022 12:16:02 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Fox News is CNN-Lite.)
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To: SeekAndFind
The normal lies from the FBI?
Yup.
Trouble is, no sane person really believes anything the FBI has to say. They've lied and cheated too often and twisted and turned so much, no one really believes them.
When the jack booted FBI goons visit you and suggest you censor some coming news, its not a suggestion, its a threat, just like the mafia.
30 posted on 08/28/2022 12:28:04 AM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: SeekAndFind

FBI criminals are protesting they’re not criminals.


31 posted on 08/28/2022 12:28:27 AM PDT by Flick Lives (FJB and the corrupt FBI)
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To: higgmeister

The founders understood that and did their best to protect us from potential government tyranny. These protections, our fundamental rights, and restrictions on government are codified in our Constitution and Bill of Rights - and the left wants to negate these protections.


32 posted on 08/28/2022 12:40:50 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: SeekAndFind

Nice company you have there Facebook. It’d be a shame if something happened to it. - your friends at the FBI.


33 posted on 08/28/2022 12:41:03 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: neverevergiveup

The protection only work if people care about following the constitution, the Dems don’t give a shit about following laws, the bill of rights, or the constitution!! Our side doesn’t give a shit about making them either!! So here we are!!


34 posted on 08/28/2022 12:44:27 AM PDT by Trump Girl Kit Cat (Yosemite Sam raising hell)
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To: SeekAndFind

Much like all the media, sounds like Zuckerberg was bootstrapping the FBI’s toothless warning to do something he wanted to do in the first place, suppress information harmful to Biden’s electoral chances just before the election. Zuckerberg is, was and has always been a lying dishonest dirtbag.


35 posted on 08/28/2022 1:22:32 AM PDT by chuckee
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To: Trump Girl Kit Cat

I agree entirely.


36 posted on 08/28/2022 2:17:03 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: SeekAndFind

This was Bill Barr, our AG


37 posted on 08/28/2022 2:42:20 AM PDT by nikos1121
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To: SeekAndFind

Zuckerberg was handpicked by the intelligence community, along with the heads of Google and Twitter. No way that dipshit builds a multi-billion dollar company without the government’s involvement.


38 posted on 08/28/2022 3:01:53 AM PDT by HYPOCRACY (This is the dystopian future we've been waiting for!)
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To: jimtorr

“Didn’t need to issue a call to action. A wink is as good as a nod.”

It was like two gears meshing.


39 posted on 08/28/2022 3:06:42 AM PDT by odawg
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To: SeekAndFind

In this case I believe the FBI over that Zucky POS. He always lies. This is how he stole Facebook from the Winklevoss brothers.


40 posted on 08/28/2022 3:08:34 AM PDT by dennisw
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