'Deliberate abuse of power': Republicans erupt after bombshell Zuckerberg letter on COVID-19 censorship

House Republicans are claiming vindication after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted his company was pressured by the Biden-Harris administration to "censor certain COVID-19 content" during the pandemic.

"For too long, the Harris-Biden admin pressured social media companies to censor Americans' views online. This was a deliberate abuse of power to stifle free speech," Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP's campaign arm, said on X.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the No. 3 Republican leader, said on the site, "Mark Zuckerberg's letter to [the House Judiciary Committee] leaves no room for doubt: this was an intentional assault on our First Amendment rights. This abuse of power must end now."

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Zuckerberg wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, earlier this week that he wished he and his company had been more outspoken about government censorship concerns in 2021.

"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," the billionaire Facebook founder said. "I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it."

Zuckerberg said the administration "repeatedly pressured our teams for months," though he noted, "We regularly hear from governments around the world and others with various concerns around public discourse and public safety."

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Jordan has been