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Science & Technology May 29, 2019 3 mins read

Pelosi says Facebook’s decision over fake video proves “they were willing enablers of the Russian interference”

Science & Technology ı By Marivic Cabural Summers

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pelosi

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) condemned Facebook after the company decided to not delete an edited video showing that she seemed slurring her speech or intoxicated.

On Wednesday, Pelosi told KQED that the social media giant’s decision to allow a clearly manipulated and misleading video on its website contradicts the assertion that it is an unwitting victim of Russian interference.

Pelosi said, "We have said all along, poor Facebook, they were unwittingly exploited by the Russians. I think wittingly, because right now they are putting up something that they know is false. I think it's wrong.”

Additionally, the House Speaker said, "I think they have proven — by not taking down something they know is false — that they were willing enablers of the Russian interference in our election."

Several days ago, Facebook’s Vice President of Product Policy and Counterterrorism Monica Bickert and Director of Public Policy Neil Potts defended the social media giant’s decision over the fake video.

Facebook executive’s arguments defending their decision

Bickert argued allowing the manipulated video stay on its website and flagging it as “false” was the right approach to political misinformation. She explained that they are letting people make their own informed choice about what to believe.”

Potts explained that they just flagged the edited video because their “policy is to inform people when have information that might be false on the platform so they can make their own decisions about that content.”

Zuckerberg previously said Facebook must ensure its users are not spreading misinformation

It appears that the Facebook executives are not willing to do enough to prevent the spread of false or misleading information. The proliferation of fake news was one of Facebook’s mistakes that led to a congressional hearing last year.

In fact, Facebook Co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to Congress for those mistakes. He admitted that the social media giant did not do enough to prevent certain entities from using its tools to do harm—disseminating fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech.

At the time, Zuckerberg said it is not enough for Facebook to connect people and give them a voice. The company must also ensure that people are not using its website to harm other people or to spread misinformation.

Facebook’s decision related to the edited video that falsely depicting Pelosi having a speech problem or drunk, shows that it is still allowing people use its platform to spread misinformation. According to Politifact, at least 2.4 million people viewed the fake video and it was shared at least 47,000 times.

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Marivic Cabural Summers

Marivic has been a freelance writer/journalist for nearly 20 years. She strictly adheres to the ethical standards in journalism. For her, integrity is everything. Readers deserve to know that real story. She previously worked as research analyst and editor at Lombardi Financial and has written for various websites including The Motley Fool, ValueWalk, IcannWiki and was a news writer/radio program producer at Nation Broadcasting Corporation. Marivic holds a BA in Mass Communications.

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