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Facebook decided to not delete an altered video used by critics to question House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mental state. In the video, Pelosi appears to be slurring her speech or intoxicated while sharing her comments at the Center for American Progress’ event last week. The group, Politics WatchDog posted the edited video of Pelosi. Experts say the video’s original speed was slowed down by around 75 percent and the pitch was also modified. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani shared and used the video to question the House Speaker mental state on Twitter.  He wrote, “What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi? Her speech pattern is bizarre.” Giuliani later deleted the video following reports that it was doctored. Despite the fact that the video of Pelosi is manipulated and fake, Facebook will not remove it from its platform, according to the company’s vice president of Product Policy and Counterterrorism Monica Bickert.

Facebook thinks the right approach to political misinformation is let people make an informed choice

During an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Bickert said Facebook took action by reducing the video’s distribution on its platform and added comments from independent fact checkers that it is “false.”  She went on to say that fake or misleading information does not directly violate the social media giant’s rules. Furthermore, Bickert explained, explained, “We think it’s important for people to make their own informed choice about what to believe. Our job is to make sure that we are getting them accurate information. And that’s why we work with over 50 fact-checking organizations around the world.” Cooper pointed out to Bickert that Facebook is in the news business and responsibility comes with it. The company knows that the video is “clearly false doctored fake” but it is allowing its spread.  Bickert responded that the company is not in the news business. It is in the “social media business.” Cooper argued that Facebook is sharing news to make money and keep its users involved in its website, which he understands. He emphasized that Facebook is in the news business. He said “you got do it right. This is false information you are spreading.” Bickert replied, “We have a site where people come and share what they think, what’s important to them. The news that they find relevant and when they do that, we wanna make sure that they have access to accurate information... When we’re talking about political discourse and misinformation around that, we think the right approach is to let people make an informed choice.”