Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign is demanding Facebook remove posts authored by President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump over allegedly spreading misinformation about the voting process.
Biden’s campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, penned a letter to Facebook accusing the company of failing to act on its “responsibility to protect our democracy” by “clearing up confusion about how this election will work” and by “fight[ing] misinformation” about how to participate in the election.
O’Malley Dillon argued instead of seeing “progress” they have seen “regression.”
She called Facebook “the nation’s foremost propagator of disinformation about the voting process.”
O’Malley Dillion cited a video posted by Donald Trump Jr. claiming those who oppose the president “plan to add millions of fraudulent ballots that can cancel your vote and overturn the election.”
He encouraged viewers to “join an army for Trump’s election security.”
She claimed when the campaign pressed Facebook on how the president’s son’s message could be consistent with the platform’s policies, Facebook provided no explanation.
“No company that considers itself a force for good in democracy, and that purports to take voter suppression seriously, would allow this dangerous claptrap to spread to millions of people,” O’Malley Dillion wrote.
She added, “Removing this video should have been the easiest of easy calls under your policies, yet it remains up today.”
O’Malley Dillion insisted Trump has “repeatedly” taken to Facebook to urge voters to show up at polling places to demand to vote again unless it is proven their vote is counted.
She noted the posts violate the platform’s policies because they “wrongly” suggest there is doubt about whether mail-in ballots will be counted.
The head of his campaign also suggested it violates Facebook’s prohibition of “misrepresentations about voting logistics, methods, or requirements.”
“We watched with alarm in recent days as Facebook has attempted to portray itself as a passive actor, serving as a mirror of public sentiment- all while your algorithm actually serves as a force that shapes it,” O’Malley Dillion wrote.
Andy Stone, a Facebook company spokesperson, released a statement to Axios.
“We’ve faced criticism from Republicans for being biased against conservatives and Democrats for not taking more steps to restrict the exact same content,” he said.
Stone went on, “We have rules in place to protect the integrity of the election and free expression, and we will continue to apply them impartially.”
