Refusal to remove video shows Facebook enabled Russian election meddling - Pelosi

[webfact]

Refusal to remove video shows Facebook enabled Russian election meddling - Pelosi

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds her weekly news conference with Capitol Hill reporters in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that Facebook Inc's refusal to remove a heavily edited video that attempted to make her look incoherent had convinced her the company knowingly enabled Russian election interference.

 

"When something like Facebook says, 'I know this is false ... - it’s a lie - but we’re showing it anyway,’ well to me it says two things," Pelosi said to applause at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. "I was giving them the benefit of the doubt on Russia ... I thought it was unwittingly, but clearly they wittingly were accomplices and enablers of false information to go across Facebook."

 

"There is a false video that the Republicans are putting out on Facebook," the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives added.

 

She also said that attacks like those on Facebook also made it more difficult to recruit candidates for public office because "why would you subject yourself to that."

 

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Pelosi's remarks.

 

NetChoice, an e-commerce trade group that includes Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc's Google, issued a statement objecting to Pelosi's criticism.

 

"Hyperbolic attacks on platforms won't help solve the tech issues of today," Carl Szabo, vice president of the group, said in the statement. "It's obvious that Facebook is hugely invested in ensuring that its platform won't be misused to aid election interference."

 

The video of Pelosi was slowed to make her speech seem slurred and edited to make it appear she repeatedly stumbled over her words.

 

President Donald Trump retweeted the video last week, writing: "PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE." He later told a reporter the House speaker, who is 79, had "lost it."

 

The Washington Post reported last week that YouTube, which is owned by Google, responded by removing the video because it violated company policies on acceptable content. The Post said Twitter did not comment, but Facebook declined to remove the videos, even after its independent fact-checkers deemed the content false.

 

"We don’t have a policy that stipulates that the information you post on Facebook must be true," the Post quoted Facebook as saying in a statement.

 

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian entities with conspiracy to defraud the United States, among other charges, as part of his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election that included widespread use of social media sites to spread misinformation.

 

Facebook has been criticized over its content policies by politicians from across the spectrum. Republican senators have accused it of discriminating against conservative viewpoints and suppressing free speech, suggesting antitrust action could fix the situation.

 

Facebook, along with Twitter and Google, has denied its platform is politically biased.

 

(Reporting by David Alexander, Susan Cornwell and Chris Sanders; editing by Bill Berkrot and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-30

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[keith101]

I closed my Facebook account some time ago because it simply cant be trusted period .

[CharlieH]

Reported troll comment removed.

[Baerboxer]

The woman's a nutter and seemingly a boozer too!

 

She blames the Russians, the same Russians she wants to convince everyone fiddled the election so Trump could be POTUS. 

 

The trouble with old senile drunks in politics is that sooner or later they believe their own fairy tales they've been telling the public.

 

Why does a young country like America stand for all these old lags - Trump, Pelosi, Biden etc etc. ?

[Boon Mee]

Trump is right again calling Pelosi "Mess" ???? 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump is right again calling Pelosi "Mess" ???? 

And the basis of your conclusion is a faked video.

[Chomper Higgot]

23 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

The woman's a nutter and seemingly a boozer too!

 

She blames the Russians, the same Russians she wants to convince everyone fiddled the election so Trump could be POTUS. 

 

The trouble with old senile drunks in politics is that sooner or later they believe their own fairy tales they've been telling the public.

 

Why does a young country like America stand for all these old lags - Trump, Pelosi, Biden etc etc. ?

Fact 1.

The Russians did interfere in the election in favour of Trump.

 

Fact 2.

The subject video is a fake.

 

 

[Emdog]

Trump rambles on like a "dry drunk". Late night TV has done joke vids of Trump slowed down. Difference being they don't present it as real like Trump bunch do with Pelosi.

 

[Proboscis]

7 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

The woman's a nutter and seemingly a boozer too!

 

She blames the Russians, the same Russians she wants to convince everyone fiddled the election so Trump could be POTUS. 

 

The trouble with old senile drunks in politics is that sooner or later they believe their own fairy tales they've been telling the public.

 

Why does a young country like America stand for all these old lags - Trump, Pelosi, Biden etc etc. ?

And your point is?

[guest879]

Trump is going to win 2020. not because he is a great president but because the democrats are a bunch of loons.

[connda]

LoL.  It's pouring torrential rain in my village.  We may have flooding!!! The Russians are responsible.  ????

[connda]

3 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

Why does a young country like America stand for all these old lags - Trump, Pelosi, Biden etc etc. ?

Never expect The Swamp to drain The Swamp.  The electorate?  Pretty much all casualties of unending MSM propaganda and amenable to campaign lies promises.  The US will never get change without an informed electorate.  New blood needs to injected into the system and informed voters need to start rejecting a two party system and vote for candidates who actually represent their interests.  
But don't hold your breath.  

Biden For President - 2020!!!  
 

[rgraham]

The poor democrats just cannot give up. The funniest thing about the doctored video is that it looks just like any other video of Peloosi.

[bristolboy]

3 minutes ago, rgraham said:

The poor democrats just cannot give up. The funniest thing about the doctored video is that it looks just like any other video of Peloosi.

You're lying.

[Curt1591]

I saw the video as Pelosi's greatest hits!

[stevenl]

26 minutes ago, rgraham said:

The poor democrats just cannot give up. The funniest thing about the doctored video is that it looks just like any other video of Peloosi.

Then why was it doctored. Unless you're claiming it was a very smart democratic hoax, that would make sense.

[SOTIRIOS]

...absolutely not well.....

 

...in the head...heart...or soul.....

 

...please go away you sick lady.....

 

 

[Tug]

Just Donald’s dirty tricks wait till it gets closer to the election then it will get really nasty we all know what Donald is he will use facebooks flaws to his advantage just double check your news sources to get a balanced view

[Dumbastheycome]

ok. I'm convinced.

[Dumbastheycome]

8 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

nice try, but there are hundreds/thousands of hours of Pelosi speaking on Youtube. You can't tell me the MSNBC and CNN have also faked and slowed down her speaking as well? It is disingenuous to leap on one doctored video as some sort of evidence that she is still sane. 

Most people  would  question the  justification for not removing an identified  "doctored" video whilst deciding for themselves  personal opinion as to sanity based on  genuine  video  content.

In the  same way an increasing  number of  people  globally  would  form  opinion derived from witnessing the POTUS demonstrating  his  misconceptions  and inflictions.

 

[bristolboy]

2 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...absolutely not well.....

 

...in the head...heart...or soul.....

 

...please go away you sick lady.....

 

 

Like during the 2016 campaign when Trump supporters alleged Clinton had Parkinson's.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 10:10 PM, connda said:

Never expect The Swamp to drain The Swamp.  The electorate?  Pretty much all casualties of unending MSM propaganda and amenable to campaign lies promises.  The US will never get change without an informed electorate.  New blood needs to injected into the system and informed voters need to start rejecting a two party system and vote for candidates who actually represent their interests.  
But don't hold your breath.  

Biden For President - 2020!!!  
 

If what you say is true, the old guard will never allow the young to take over. It .would threaten their hold on power.

 

Re the OP, does the video come under free speech? if it does, she has no case

[Cryingdick]

Facebook is a Silicon Valley, liberal, company that is known to silence conservative views. I am not sure why Facebook itself would have helped Trump that makes no sense. You have to remember people get fired and bullied who have any opposite views to the left's agenda at this company. 

 

So now Zuckerberg is Pro-Trump? You can't make this stuff up. Oh wait I guess you can. This story is a piece of Smollett.

 

[bristolboy]

33 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Facebook is a Silicon Valley, liberal, company that is known to silence conservative views. I am not sure why Facebook itself would have helped Trump that makes no sense. You have to remember people get fired and bullied who have any opposite views to the left's agenda at this company. 

 

So now Zuckerberg is Pro-Trump? You can't make this stuff up. Oh wait I guess you can. This story is a piece of Smollett.

 

More baseless echoes of the right wing media. Zuckerberg is a capitalist and he's concerned about making money. I'm guessing, (and unlike you, if I don't have the fact, I acknowledge them as suppositions) there's serious money to be made by allowing right wing loons to indulge in such nonsense.

[Cryingdick]

4 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

More baseless echoes of the right wing media. Zuckerberg is a capitalist and he's concerned about making money. I'm guessing, (and unlike you, if I don't have the fact, I acknowledge them as suppositions) there's serious money to be made by allowing right wing loons to indulge in such nonsense.

 

It is widely known that Silicon Valley is a liberal bastion. The fact you even dispute this is laughable. Any person who has worked with (and I have) a tech company in the valley is well aware of the corporate culture.

[bristolboy]

2 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

It is widely known that Silicon Valley is a liberal bastion. The fact you even dispute this is laughable. Any person who has worked with (and I have) a tech company in the valley is well aware of the corporate culture.

Once again you get it wrong. I have not denied that Silicon Valley is a liberal bastion even if I'm not quite sure what "bastion" means in this regard. But your claim that  those who hold any views opposite to those of the left get bullied and fired is backed up by what evidence? The claims of a few disgruntled malcontents? Got any serious evidence to provide?

But I do admit it is most likely significant that in the most competitive and advanced sectors of American capitalism, the elite workers do tend to be liberal. Most likely because they understand data. The same goes for scientists in general. Hmmmm..,

[Credo]

7 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

It is widely known that Silicon Valley is a liberal bastion. The fact you even dispute this is laughable. Any person who has worked with (and I have) a tech company in the valley is well aware of the corporate culture.

Here's a little something for you to chew on:

Facebook Confirms It Will Sponsor Trump's Republican National Convention

http://fortune.com/2016/05/07/facebook-confirms-it-will-sponsor-trumps-republican-national-convention/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-article&utm_content=20190531&fbclid=IwAR3E3QnKaW2mJMc5kxM41EDAy0Alu8ocUNBdU7AvoawYE8xtiMv7ho_Cny4

[brycspain]

Have you ever had a political discussion in America?  You aren't going to change anyones mind about how they feel regarding politics.  The Dems are upset because they lost..even after they continuously lectured Trump about accepting the results of an election.  Dems are always saying that there is no election fraud and yet, they are blaming videos on Facebook for their loss.  The reason Hillary lost was because she was an inadequate candidate who didn't have a message.  Democrats pander, they don't solve problems.  They make up a problem and pretend they know how to solve it.  That's why they lost pure and simple.