The social media giant has been accused of many things over the years, and almost every time, the facts prove their guilt.
This year is no different.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has some explaining to do after Facebook was just found guilty again – and it’s worse than you thought.
Readers of Deep State Journal know we report on Facebook’s control over political content and censorship almost every week.
We’ve also reported extensively on their violations of their own policies, list selling, and data manipulation.
But we also applauded them when Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook would not censor political content because the company believed in free speech.
Given Zuckerberg’s shady past, we should have known better. Facebook quickly switched course, clamped down on conservative and libertarian posts and ads, and even censored the President.
And while the social media giant touts its new election news “fact-checking feature” as neutral and independent, it is anything but.
Facebook claims they’ve partnered with over 50 “fact-checking” organizations from around the world, but only a small handful of them are focused on American content.
In fact, the well-respected media watchdog group, Media Research Center (MRC), found that eight of the nine American content “fact-checkers” are all left-leaning organizations or news outlets – The Associated Press (AP), PolitiFact, Reuters, USA Today, Lead Stories, Factcheck.org, Science Feedback, and AFP Fact-Check.
The Daily Caller’s ‘Check Your Fact’ is the only right-leaning “fact-checker” for American content on Facebook.
Facebook will not release a full list of their so-called “fact-checkers,” but have not denied MRC’s report either.
Some of the “fact-checkers” have even indicated they are getting paid by Facebook for their censorship.
Facebook’s own website states that posts flagged as false by the “fact-checkers” are also “throttled on the platform” which “significantly reduces the number of people who see it.”
In 2019, Facebook “throttled” the page of a pro-life organization, Live Action, after two of its videos were labeled as “false.” It turned out the “fact-checker” was simply relying on comments made by two abortionists.
And in response, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued an open letter to Facebook saying the videos were justified and factual.
All of this censorship is going on just as Zuckerberg announced new draconian election-related content rules, his plans to donate a whopping $300 million to local and state elections, and plans to help millions register and vote this year.
Even more concerning, Facebook’s “fact-checkers” must be certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which Facebook describes as a non-partisan organization – but the, um, “facts” say otherwise. IFCN was set up by the non-profit Poynter, which was almost entirely funded by 3 major donors in 2019 – eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, a major donor to Democrat and left-wing causes; socialist billionaire George Soros; Google and Facebook.
As we count down to what could be the most contentious election in American history, count on Zuckerberg and his Big Tech pals to clamp down even harder on libertarian and conservative voices.