On Thursday, we reported that Facebook, the social media site increasingly seen as the “world’s most dangerous censor,” will partner with left-wing outfits like Snopes and Politifact to determine what’s “fake” or not. Anyone with a functioning brain cell can clearly see this is just an effort to silence conservative points of view on the site. So how should conservatives respond? Is it time to consider economic action in response?
As Breitbart noted, Politifact — one of the outlets Facebook is partnering with — isn’t exactly qualified to determine what’s real or fake:
Facebook’s decision to tout PolitiFact as a credible and independent fact checker is awfully disturbing, given the organization’s repeated smear campaign against Donald Trump throughout the 2016 election.
Facebook’s “fake news” flaggers, Politifact, et al., have a history of showing sympathy for left-wing narratives. Time and again PolitiFact published stories that favored Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, while promoting “fact checks” meant to rebut or embarrass Republicans.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Here’s just three instances noted by Breitbart:
1. Last March, PolitiFact delivered a “mostly false” rating for a joke made by Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
2. Last April, PolitiFact made phone calls and sent a reporter to investigate whether Governor Scott Walker actually “paid one dollar for” a sweater he bought at Kohl’s. PolitiFact later ruled Walker’s claim “true.”
3. When Trump said Clinton wants “open borders,” PolitiFact deemed his statement “mostly false” — despite the fact that Clinton admitted as much in a private, paid speech to a Brazilian bank on May 16, 2013. “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders,” she said at the time.
Snopes also has issues, as the Daily Caller noted earlier this month:
A Snopes.com article attempting to discredit a Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group news story revealing that millions of Department of State tax dollars were sent to a charity created by Secretary of State John Kerry’s daughter was loaded with factual errors and omissions.
The Peace Corps awarded more than $9 million of State Department money to Dr. Vanessa Kerry’s nonprofit for a program she established in conjunction with officials from both agencies. Most of those funds were awarded while Kerry’s father was the nation’s chief diplomat.
The DCNF’s Sept. 12, 2016, article by Investigative Group reporter Ethan Barton was based entirely on multiple government documents and thorough research. The Sept. 12 story was the first of nearly a dozen Kerry revelations.
Ethan Barton added:
Snopes.com writer David Emery criticized TheDCNF’s reporting nearly three months later in a Thursday article, but presented no evidence that refuted TheDCNF’s findings. The so-called “investigator of urban legends, rumors, hoaxes & all manner of codswallop,” according to his Twitter bio, also made numerous false statements, starting with the first sentence.
“Emery’s critique was based on a straw man of his own creation. Emery also did not contact TheDCNF for comment,” Barton said.
We’ve also had issues with Snopes, as we noted here.
And this is who Facebook has partnered with to judge conservative content.
Granted, fake news exists and has been around since the beginning of time, but this is clearly a move to stifle conservative sites like ours.
Breitbart further noted:
“We’ll use the reports from our community, along with other signals, to send stories to these organizations,” Facebook VP Adam Mosseri wrote in the Facebook news blog. “If the fact checking organizations identify a story as fake, it will get flagged as disputed and there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining why.”
How should conservatives respond?
Here’s a simple suggestion: Stop feeding the monster that wants to destroy conservative sites. How?
Perhaps conservative bloggers and page owners should stop advertising on Facebook. That’s right — quit giving them money. Don’t buy ads, and don’t waste money boosting posts.
Maybe conservatives who own shares in Facebook should consider divesting themselves of those stocks.
There’s no doubt that conservative sites will get falsely flagged as purveyors of “fake” information, and will suffer financially as a result. Maybe owners of those sites and pages should prepare to take legal action when — not if — that happens.
Moreover, conservatives should find out if their representatives in Congress have ever accepted money from Facebook and demand that money be returned. According to Open Secrets, Facebook’s PAC raised and distributed over $600,000 in contributions during the 2016 election.
As can be seen here, the company has contributed to members of both parties, including Sens Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Marco Rubio, R-Florida. Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Justin Amash have also received money from Facebook.
Hillary Clinton received over $400,000 from Facebook and Bernie Sanders raked in over $43,000. By comparison, President-elect Donald Trump got less than $4,000. The company has also spent over $16 million in lobbying efforts.
Of course, Facebook has the right to lobby and contribute to candidates. Conversely, conservatives have the right to withhold their money from the very company that seeks to silence them.
I put up a poll earlier today asking if conservatives should withhold ad money from the company. What say you?
Related:
- Facebook to use left-wing ‘fact-checkers’ to label ‘news’
- Facebook says US flag violates community standards for second time in two weeks
- Flashback: Facebook tells conservative user picture of lilac tree ‘pornographic’
- The real reasons social media sites censor conservative content
- Facebook: Page advocating murder of Donald Trump does not violate Community Standards
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