facebook has admitted to wrongly censoring a photograph of former President Donald Trump raising his fist after surviving an assassination attempt, according to a company official. Users who attempted to share the photo on facebook were informed that they had shared an “altered photo.” The message explained that independent fact-checkers had reviewed a similar photo and deemed it misleading. As a result, facebook added a notice to posts containing the image. Additionally, users were warned that sharing false information could lead to their posts being ranked lower in facebook’s feed.
Frustrated individuals took their complaints about the censorship to X, a social media platform that competes with facebook. They argued that they had shared an unaltered and legitimate photo but were still flagged by facebook. Dani Lever, a spokesperson for facebook, acknowledged the mistake in an X post and apologized for the error.
facebook utilizes a third-party fact-checking network across its apps, including other Meta-owned properties. This network enables the company to take action against problematic content and reduce its spread.
Conservatives expressed their concerns over this incident of censorship and called for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to be questioned by lawmakers regarding these actions. Some even suggested dragging him in front of Congress for accountability.
The photograph at the center of this controversy captures former President Trump raising his fist shortly after being struck by a bullet during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. He is surrounded closely by Secret Service agents who do not appear smiling in the image.
It is worth noting that bullets fired by Thomas Crooks during this incident also hit three other individuals, resulting in one fatality (Corey Comperatore) while the other two victims have since been discharged from hospital care.
In addition to censoring the photograph itself, Meta’s artificial intelligence has reportedly been providing some users with inaccurate information about whether or not the assassination attempt actually occurred. A spokesperson from Meta acknowledged these issues and stated that they are working on implementing fixes for more accurate responses regarding inquiries related to this topic.
