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Facebook Singles Out State Media of US Adversaries for a Warning

June 8, 2020

Facebook Singles Out State Media of US Adversaries for a Warning

Ignoring state-owned media in nations allied with the U.S., Facebook is attaching a warning label to state media from countries the U.S. doesn’t like.

Facebook has begun adding labels to news articles it publishes from “state media” to warn readers about where their news is coming from.

The warning reads: “This publisher is wholly or partially under the editorial control of a state. This is determined by a range of factors, including but not limited to funding, structure and journalistic standards.”

“The concern for us is state media combines the agenda setting power of a media entity with the strategic backing of a state,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy, told CNN Business. “If you’re reading coverage of a protest, it’s really important you know who is writing that coverage and what motivation they have. The goal of this is to ensure the public will see and understand who is behind it.” 

Facebook is so far labeling news from only two state media outlets. It’s hardly surprising who they are:  Russian government-owned Sputnik and RT, and Xinhua, China’s national news agency.

A government can choose its adversaries. But nowhere is it written that the news media, or Facebook, has to automatically go along.  Doing so makes one look like state-run media.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies to Congress, April 2018. (YouTube)

Facebook will also ban advertising on its platform from state media it doesn’t like. So far that’s only from Russia and China.

These are purely political decisions made by Facebook under direct pressure from the U.S. government in open Congressional hearings. It has nothing to do with maintaining accuracy in media. 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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