In his testimony before Congress on Wednesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was asked several questions regarding bias against conservatives at his company. He denied all knowledge of bias and pledged to make Facebook a fair platform.
In an exchange with pro-life Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, the senator informed Zuckerberg of the raging debate around free speech and the push among hardcore leftists to regulate speech they find offensive, including anti-abortion views.
“I am worried about the psychological categories,” Sasse said. “You used language of safety and protection earlier. We have seen this happen on college campuses. It’s dangerous. Forty percent of Americans under age 35 tell pollsters they think the First Amendment is dangerous because you might use your freedom to say something that hurts somebody else’s feelings.”
“There are some passionately held views about the abortion issue on this panel,” Sasse continued. “Can you imagine a world where you might decide that pro-lifers are prohibited from speaking about their abortion views on your platform?”
“I certainly would not want that to be the case,” Zuckerberg responded.
“It might really be unsettling to people who’ve had an abortion to have an open debate about that, wouldn’t it?” Sasse asked.
“It might be,” Zuckerberg replied, “but I don’t think that that would fit any of the definitions of what we have but I do generally agree with the point that you’re making which is as we’re able to technologically shift especially towards having AI proactively look at content, I think that’s going to create massive questions for society about what obligations we want to require companies to fulfill.”
“I do think that that’s a question that we need to struggle with as a country because I know other countries are and they’re putting laws in place,” Zuckerberg continued. “I think America needs to figure out and create the principles we want American companies to operate under.”
According to LifeNews, Facebook has allegedly censored pro-life messages on several occasions, silencing pro-life public figures and anti-abortion content.
“LifeNews.com has seen repeated attempts to censor our pro-life message or the pro-life messages of other organizations,” reports LifeNews. “We have had problems with certain posts being blocked on Facebook, and Facebook has denied LifeNews the ability to promote certain posts with content that it deems unacceptable.”
Here are just a few instances:
1.) The West Virginia-based ministry Warriors for Christ repeatedly has its Facebook pages removed.
Its main page, which has more than 225,000 followers, was removed again last week, allegedly for “hateful, threatening or obscene” content.
This is the message Penkowski received from Facebook last week: “Your Page ‘Warriors for Christ’ has been removed for violating our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening or obscene are not allowed. We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorised individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook’s features could result in the permanent loss of your account.”
2.) Facebook is blocking a film about Roe v. Wade.
Earlier this year, two Hollywood actors who are working with pro-life leaders on a film detailing the true story behind Roe v. Wade said Facebook is blocking their project.
Nick Loeb told World News Daily that he believes the social media giant is censoring them because of the film’s pro-life message and its exposure of Planned Parenthood’s eugenic history.
“They have even blocked people sharing the ads I paid for,” Loeb said. “This is stealing or fraud.”
3.) Facebook shut down ads from one pro-life group, calling them “misleading.”
The Wexford/Missaukee Right to Life, an affiliate of Right to Life of Michigan, noticed on Oct. 4 that its advertising account on Facebook had been shut down. The group said it still is not sure why.
“I have heard that Facebook is run and managed by a group of biased liberals under the management of Mark Zuckerberg,” said Don Hoitenga, who manages the pro-life group’s Facebook page. ‘I can now believe the rumors as I have been banned from advertising on Facebook.”
When the group asked for an explanation, it received this response: “There’s no further action you may take here. We don’t support ads for your business model.” The email from Facebook also said its decision is final.
4.) Facebook censored a Maryland pro-life pregnancy center.
In 2016, a Maryland pro-life pregnancy center also had its ad initially rejected by Facebook. The social media site tagged the phrase “if you are pregnant” as objectionable, likening it to “if you are fat.” Facebook later approved the ad after the pro-life group modified the phrase.
While censoring these pro-lifers, Facebook said that a group wanting to burn a Christian mom alive met “community standards.”