Facebook and Twitter have rejected a request by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats to remove an edited video from their platforms that shows her ripping up President Donald Trump’s State of The Union address.
In the video, Pelosi appears to be repeatedly ripping her copy of Trump’s speech as he honors a Tuskegee airman and other guests. When, in fact, Pelosi ripped his speech immediately after his address to Congress on Thursday.
Trump posted the roughly five-minute video—made by Turning Point USA—to his personal Twitter account on Thursday.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2020
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, on Friday demanded the video be removed from both Facebook and Twitter.
“The latest fake video of Speaker Pelosi is deliberately designed to mislead and lie to the American people, and every day that these platforms refuse to take it down is another reminder that they care more about their shareholders’ interests than the public’s interests,” Hammill tweeted.
The latest fake video of Speaker Pelosi is deliberately designed to mislead and lie to the American people, and every day that these platforms refuse to take it down is another reminder that they care more about their shareholders’ interests than the public’s interests.
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) February 7, 2020
Both Facebook and Twitter rejected his request.
“Sorry, are you suggesting the President didn’t make those remarks and the Speaker didn’t rip the speech?” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone responded to Hammill via Twitter.
Sorry, are you suggesting the President didn't make those remarks and the Speaker didn't rip the speech?
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) February 7, 2020
In response, Hammill once again asked him to “take it down.”
“What planet are you living on?” Hammill shot back. “This is deceptively altered.”
what planet are you living on? this is deceptively altered. take it down.
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) February 7, 2020
Facebook’s policy states that it will remove videos that were edited “in ways that aren’t apparent to an average person and would likely mislead someone into thinking that a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say.”
In the case of Thursday’s video, Stone tweeted, “the reason I was making the point about the fact that the things featured in this video actually happened is because that’s a key element of our policy on content like this.”
The reason I was making the point about the fact that the things featured in this video actually happened is because that's a key element of our policy on content like this. https://t.co/CAtmBPczlG
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) February 7, 2020
Twitter spokeswoman Lindsay McCallum, meanwhile, said Saturday that beginning on March 5 the company will start applying labels on heavily edited videos, like the one Trump posted.
Twitter says it might also warn users before the retweet or like a tweet with manipulated content.
READ MORE:
- Conservatives want Pelosi thrown in prison for ripping up Trump’s speech
- Nancy Pelosi tears up Trump’s State of the Union speech after he finishes
- Trump’s attempt to mock Nancy Pelosi with a photo completely backfires
H/T MSN