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#DeleteFacebook gains momentum after the platform refused to remove doctored Nancy Pelosi videos

People are concerned about the spread of misinformation.

 

Stacey Ritzen

Tech

Posted on May 25, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 11:51 am CDT

A movement urging people to #DeleteFacebook is gaining momentum, yet again. This time, it’s because of the circulation of a doctored video, featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), that Facebook is refusing to remove.

The video is doctored to make her look like she’s slurring and drunk.

In the original clip, Pelosi is normally speaking at an event held by the Center for American Progress, on Wednesday. The clip was then slowed down by 75% to make her voice sound “garbled and warped.” Her pitch was also changed “to possibly correct for how that speed change would deepen her tone,” according to the Washington Post.

Once the video was debunked, social media giants were forced to respond. YouTube stated that the video violated its standards, and it was subsequently removed. However, Facebook–where the doctored video was viewed nearly 1.5 million times on a single page–refused to comply.

The video remains on Facebook “because false information alone does not violate the site’s rules,” according to a statement released by the company on Friday. Instead of removing the video, Facebook will attempt to dissuade users from sharing it on their news feeds by adding context from fact-checkers who review the footage.

“We remove things from Facebook that violate our Community Standards, and we don’t have a policy that stipulates that the information you post on Facebook must be true,” a company spokesperson said in the statement.

Many people believe Facebook isn’t taking strong enough stance, which is why #DeleteFacebook (as well as #DeleteInstagram, since the platform is owned by Facebook) began trending on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/amber_harris16/status/1132134607569076226

https://twitter.com/h3artbl33d/status/1131986094235553793

https://twitter.com/themintytea/status/1132132799295569920

On the other hand, plenty of people just had jokes and memes to offer.

https://twitter.com/AlexWhitcomb/status/1132134784954540032

https://twitter.com/coolcam101/status/1132172932153630720

It’s worth noting that the movement comes with a certain amount of inherent irony, as the video is still being shared on Twitter.

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*First Published: May 25, 2019, 11:58 am CDT