A recent study conducted by the Media Research Center (MRC) revealed 39 instances in which Facebook interfered in US elections since 2008, raising concerns about the platform’s influence on the democratic process.
according to Recent research by MRC Free Speech AmericaFacebook has been caught 39 times since 2008 for interfering in US elections. The platform’s election-interfering censorship began in 2012, peaked in 2020, and began to wane somewhat early in the 2024 election cycle.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends the Super Tuesday Election Night Watch Party at the Mar-a-Lago Club on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. On Tuesday, Trump snapped a winning streak in the Republican presidential primary. He is steadily approaching his party’s nomination.Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg’s meta selfie (Facebook)
Mark Zuckerberg has made several statements supporting free speech, including his famous 2019 speech at Georgetown University, where he said: Challenge us. Or you may decide that the cost is simply too great. He also called politically motivated censorship “dangerous” and said Facebook and other social media platforms should not act as “arbitrators of truth.”
However, Facebook’s actions often contradicted these statements. In 2012, the platform suspended Veterans PAC for a high-profile meme about the Benghazi attack. In 2016, Facebook censored then-Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and “conservative topics” and news. Censorship escalated in 2018, with Facebook removing ads for several candidates for Congress and state legislatures.
The 2020 election saw an explosion of censorship on Facebook, with the platform censoring then-President Donald Trump’s posts and ads at least four times and censoring seven political ads funded by the political right. Deleted. The most notable incident was the censorship of the New York Post’s bombshell report on Hunter Biden and the subsequent indefinite suspension of President Trump’s account in early 2021.
In 2022, Facebook announced that it will support several gubernatorial candidates, including Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), Virginia Republican House candidate Jarome Bell, and Missouri Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Greitens, as well as the U.S. Congress. Censorship of candidates continued.
Just recently, Breitbart News reported that Mark Zuckerberg’s meta is planning to prevent people from seeing posts by Donald Trump, whose engagement on Facebook is down 60 percent.
For more information, Click here for Media Research Center
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues.
