It didn’t take long after Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed that free speech would reign on Facebook– and specifically that political candidates would not have their posts removed or altered ahead of the 2020 elections – for him to renege.
The company announced earlier this month it would ban any new political ads during the week leading up to the Nov. 3rd election. But Facebook has continued its censorship throughout the year, despite Zuckerberg’s declaration last fall.
And Zuckerberg seems more-than-prepared to meddle in the election and its results before, during, and after the results come in. While he does not appear to support any political candidates or PACs this cycle (his name doesn’t show up in campaign finance reports, unlike in the past), he and the Silicon Valley leftists in his employ wield Facebook’s potent platform to amplify messages they want to give wider attention to, and mute the ones they don’t. That’s far more powerful than any amount of campaign contributions.
It’s near impossible to compile an exhaustive list of censorship examples in light of Zuckerberg famously saying that social media platforms “shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,” and specifically that politicians shouldn’t be censored because of their public positions. But the stakes over the election have heightened with the Left’s obsession to rid the White House of Donald Trump, much of which has been exposed in reporting and treatment of the two major news developments of 2020: COVID-19 and widespread riots following alleged “systemic racism” incidents in which black suspects have died in confrontations with police.
Here are a few examples of Facebook and its monitors censoring messages by conservatives:
- The removal of a video clip of a Trump interview on “Fox and Friends” in which he claimed children have heightened immunity to the coronavirus. The fact is they are far less susceptible to the dangers of the virus than older members of the population.
- Removal of a video of a press conference by “America’s Frontline Doctors” who discussed their medical opinions while decrying a “massive disinformation campaign” about the coronavirus in the media. Facebook said the video was taken down for “sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19.”
- Removing posts that express “harmful misinformation” (Zuckerberg’s words) about how to combat the coronavirus, on issues such as social distancing and use of masks. Breitbart reported that by the end of June, Facebook had announced that it either removed or censored over 100 million posts that it deemed “harmful” or “false” about COVID-19.
- The removal of pages by groups that tried to organize in order to get their states to reopen their economies. “Events that defy government’s guidance on social distancing aren’t allowed on Facebook,” a spokesman said.
- Demonetization of black conservative leader Candace Owens’s account after she insinuated Sen. Kamala Harris was not really black, since she was sworn into Congress as an “Indian-American.” Owens has said she plans to sue Facebook.
- Deletion of the accounts (including on Instagram, which Facebook owns) of the pro-Trump activist group Patriot Prayer, after one of its members was murdered by an Antifa radical at a demonstration in Portland.
- Eliminating all posts in support of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who went to Kenosha, Wisc. to defend the property of owners from rioters who went on a destruction spree after the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse shot three leftist agitators, and video evidence shows he likely acted in self-defense. Without evidence of its own, Facebook declared Rittenhouse’s actions as “mass murder.”
- Removing the page of a “militia group” in Kenosha while leaving up the page for a militant Antifa group in Portland.
- Threatening the removal of the account of black conservatives the Hodgetwins after a New York Timesarticle lamented their popularity, after they called the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement a “damn lie.” “They (Facebook) are interfering with the election!” the twin brothers said.
- A Facebook official said it would remove “false claims” that leftist groups have started wildfires in western states, even though such individuals have been arrested for committing arson in those cases.
Those are just a handful of examples.
But it’s not even debatable that Facebook’s moderation practices are in the grip of leftists. Thanks to whistleblowers who captured colleagues on video, Project Veritas revealed the company’s conduct in their own words. One moderator said, “If someone is wearing a MAGA hat, I am going to delete them for terrorism” and that “I think we are all doing that.” Another, asked if she deleted Republican posts, replied, “Yes! I don’t give no f*cks, I’ll delete it.”
As for Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, even though they show no campaign contributions, that doesn’t mean they are staying on the sidelines for November. The couple donated $300 million to a pair of nonprofit groups to promote “safe voting.”
“The Center for Tech and Civic Life will receive $250 million which it says it will distribute to local election jurisdictions for staffing, training and equipment,” Business Insider reported. “The Center for Election Innovation and Research will receive the remaining $50 million, which will be spent on helping local jurisdictions secure their voting data.”
Unsurprisingly, the groups sit on the left side of the political spectrum. CTCL is funded by several liberal-leaning foundations, and according to the Capital Research Center, “The organization pushes for left-of-center voting policies and election administration” and “it has a wide reach into local elections offices across the nation.”
CTCL is already being accused of violating Wisconsin election laws due to its involvement, and is the target of a lawsuit.
“This initiative by CTCL is clearly designed to provide a boost in registered voters, limited only to traditional leftist strongholds, in a critical swing state that is likely to determine the outcome of the presidential election on November 3, 2020,” said a representative for the plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Facebook is also trying to recruit more poll workers for the election. Should voters be concerned about the handling of their ballots on November 3rd?