Twitter exploded after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed in a podcast appearance Thursday that the FBI warned Facebook about “Russian propaganda” before the Hunter Biden laptop story broke in 2020. Speaking on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Zuckerberg explained: “The FBI, I think, basically came to us — a couple of people on our team — and said, ‘Hey, just so you know, you should be high. alert… We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election. We’re mindful that, basically, there’s going to be some kind of dump similar to that. So just be on the lookout.” Zuckerberg acknowledged that the New York Post’s story about Hunter Biden’s laptop “went down on Facebook distribution,” noting that “fewer people saw it than they would have seen it otherwise.” When asked by Joe Rogan how many people had been deprived of the information, Zuckerberg replied: “I don’t know off the top of my head, but it is – it makes sense.” TOPSHOT – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg watches during the VivaTech (Viva Technology) trade show in Paris on May 24, 2018. (GERARD JULIEN/AFP via Getty Images)
FBI OFFICIALS SLOW DOWN INVESTIGATION OF HUNTER BIDEN’S CELL PHONE UNTIL 2020 ELECTION: CRASHES Many commentators saw the incident as a damning example of Big Government and Big Tech working together. “Synergy,” Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon charged. “The FBI rigged the 2020 election,” said Fox News contributor and The Federalist editor Mollie Hemingway. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted: “The FBI colluded with Big Tech to suppress news weeks before the 2020 election in an effort to control your access to information. . Democrats in Congress are willfully ignoring the facts. When Republicans are back in charge, we will hold them all accountable.” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., blasted the FBI, tweeting: “So the FBI pre-emptively warned Facebook about the Hunter Biden laptop reports. That same agency essentially washed away Russian revelations in the 2016 election in the form of Steele dossier. And later he lied in court to get wiretaps.” Byron York, Fox News contributor and chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, explained: “In the final weeks of the 2020 contest, the FBI was on the lookout for anything that could harm the Biden campaign. It alerted Facebook. Facebook acted. with warning and sent an accurate story about Hunter Biden.” “Interestingly, Facebook did not block any of the false negative stories about Trump as a result of this FBI warning,” noted Republican consultant and strategist Matt Wolking. Hunter Biden Photo: Getty Images
REBELLIOUS FORMER FBI AGENT PETER STRZOK REJECTS ‘NONSENSE’ IDEA THAT AGENCY IS ‘ONE GUY’ “This is a big one, but just to be clear, it says the FBI made a general request, it wasn’t specifically about the Hunter Biden story. Zach probably recognizes that this is a good political moment to throw the FBI under the bus. And they absolutely deserve it! But that’s my opinion,” noted Reason editor Robby Soave. Blaze Media CEO Tyler Karditis tweeted: “I get it. Learning that the FBI colluded with social media giants to bury a breaking story that may have changed the outcome of an election sounds bad, but the context is everything! The FBI had to do it because The Orange Man is really, really bad.” Commentator David Reaboy criticized the powerful institutions as an “ideological cartel” for appearing to coordinate politically. “I have long spoken out about what I call a government, media and corporate ‘ideological cartel’ that does not require command-and-control and executes the torture of the Left-brain motivated Right. But what if there is ALSO government command and control?” “Wow. Real censorship,” said radio host Dana Loesch. “Nothing to see here, just a billionaire with a monopoly on information censoring accurate news at the behest of the FBI to favor a political party and an outcome,” comedian Jimmy Dore tweeted. A man with a Trump 2024 flag is pictured outside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida after the FBI raided Donald Trump’s private home. (Alon Skuy/Fox News Digital) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Journalist and commentator Kristi Leigh lamented that there will likely be no consequences for America’s established institutions, asking, “Any bets on whether ANYTHING will be done now that there is even more evidence that the FBI meddled in elections ‘threatening our democracy!’ ?!” Alexander Hall is an associate editor at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected]