For years, Democrats have consistently preached their theories about conservatives abusing social media to change the elections, specifically via Facebook. It turns out they were talking about their own experiences. Media Research Center (MRC) discovered 39 occurrences of Facebook being involved in US elections. With data going back to 2008, there is now more concern than ever about their level of involvement in elections.
In 2019, the CEO of Meta (the parent company of Facebook), Mark Zuckerberg, gave an infamous speech at Georgetown University about being pro-free speech. “We can either continue to stand for free expression understanding its messiness but believing that the long journey towards greater progress requires confronting ideas that challenge us. Or we can decide that the cost is simply too great.”
Zuckerberg specified that politically motivated censorship is “dangerous” and claimed that Facebook should not be looked to as a source of truth.
Yet their actions have proven to be significantly different. In 2012, a Veteran PAC saw its account suspended over a meme about the Benghazi attacks. Come 2016, then-Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Republican-oriented topics, and much of the major political news were heavily censored and restricted. Consistently expanding their reach, in 2018, Facebook removed multiple ads for Congress and state legislatures on both sides.
The quest for more control of elections shot up even more in 2020. When Donald Trump declared his official candidacy for President, they lost their minds. Frequently censoring and restricting feeds to fit their narrative, MRC identified a minimum of four times Facebook censored Trump’s posts and ads. Multiple paid political ads from Republicans were pulled or severely restricted. Consequently, Facebook has also gone into full protection mode for Hunter Biden’s laptop and secrets. Then, they restricted President Trump’s accounts completely in 2021.
Despite this being widely reported, Facebook has continued censoring multiple candidates for Governor and US Congress. Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), Virginia GOP congressional candidate Jarome Bell, and Missouri GOP U.S. Senate candidate Eric Greitens are among the identified politicians.
These aren’t the actions of a free forum for the exchange of ideas and political beliefs. If anything, this is the action of a tyrant who only wants one message. While Facebook has had its feet held to the fire for these problems a bit, they still have yet to make it right.
