FBI says giving tech heads up is normal

The FBI said that it “routinely notifies” private sector entities, including social media companies, of information related to potential threats after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook limited the distribution of a controversial story leading up to the 2020 presidential election because of an FBI warning.

The statement followed Zuckerberg’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Thursday in which Zuckerberg said Facebook limited stories on the news feed related to the New York Post’s article about President Biden’s son — Hunter Biden — and his laptop after the FBI warned the company to be aware of potentially polarizing content.

Russia used social media platforms like Facebook to post intentionally polarizing content ahead of the 2016 election.

“The FBI has provided companies with foreign threat indicators to help them protect their platforms and customers from abuse by foreign malign influence actors,” the agency said in a statement.