Facebook has informed its employees that will stop verifying its veracity of Donald Trump’s words, after the tycoon announced that he will again contend for the presidency of the United States, as reported by CNN on Tuesday.
Although Trump is currently banned from Facebook, fact-checking teams continue to monitor the veracity of his statements, as parts of his speeches can be posted on the platform by other users.
For example, a page managed by the former president’s team is still active on the platform, called “Team Trump” (Trump’s team) and has more than 2.3 million followers.
“Some of you have contacted us asking for guidance on verifying statements of political speech, in light of the possible candidacy of former President Trump,” reads the statement sent by Meta, the company that owns Facebook, to its employees.
The statement then states “political discourse does not fall into the categories to which the verification of declarations applies”. In this sense, it is clarified that this includes “the statements of a politician, as well as photos, videos or other content that are clearly labeled as created by the politician or his campaign”.
This is the exception that Meta makes to its privacy policy Verifying sayings doesn’t just apply to Trump, but to everyone in that area, from candidates and officials to government members and party leaders. However, due to the volume of Trump’s statements that need to be verified, the company has clarified them through an appropriate statement.
“It is not our job to intervene when politicians speak up,” Meta executive Nick Clegg, a former politician, said in 2019, defending the exception.
Trump’s suspension from Facebook
Trump’s Facebook account was suspended indefinitely after the assault on the Capitol in January 2021. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained his decision at the time and pointed to a repeat violation.
“Over the past few years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our rules, sometimes by removing content or tagging his posts when they violate our policies. We did so because we believe the public has a right to the broadest possible access to speech politicians. , even controversial speeches“, he clarified, and then stated that what happened in the Capitol exceeded the threshold of his policies than allowed.
“But the current context is now fundamentally different, which implies the use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government,” he warned.
Meta’s claim verification policy has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats, but in reverse. While many members of the Republican Party say Meta is going too far with its restrictions, Democrats say the limits set by the company aren’t strict enough.
Clarin newsroom with information from CNN
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.