Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden has gotten on board with the media’s narrative that the election is now over, and he has won the presidency for the next four years. Sadly, part of what he claims he will enact when he takes over.
In addition to the potential compromise of international trade agreements, personally beneficial agreements with businesses overseas, and the legalization of policies that could be incredibly detrimental to Americans at home, according to a Biden campaign staffer, we might also be able to look forward to further suppression of information that is believed to be unacceptable by Democrats.
Bill Russo, deputy communications director for the Biden campaign, spoke out on Twitter with criticism of Facebook’s handling of information spreading, saying that they’re “shredding the fabric of our democracy”
Russo’s series of tweets from Monday went on to tell his tens of thousands of followers, “If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a problem during our election, just wait until you see how it is shredding the fabric of our democracy in the days after.
If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a problem during our election, just wait until you see how it is shredding the fabric of our democracy in the days after.
Look at what has happened in just the past week.
— Bill Russo (@BillR) November 10, 2020
Russo asserted that “In the days after Election Day, Facebook is flooded with thousands of calls for violence. Some of them are taken down, but many are left up for hours, if not days.”
In the days after Election Day, Facebook is flooded with thousands of calls for violence. Some of them are taken down, but many are left up for hours, if not days. https://t.co/FRcnYAh8YN pic.twitter.com/Muj1P6LiDC
— Bill Russo (@BillR) November 10, 2020
The Biden staffer placed blame on conservative media when he said that, “Unsurprisingly, Breitbart was an early amplifier and legitimizer of ‘voter fraud’ misinformation on Facebook, writing “The Steal is On” early Tuesday afternoon after citing numerous debunked conspiracy theories.”
The publication and it’s substantial reach and credibility seems to have nestled it’s way far beneath Russo’s skin because he didn’t sugar coat how he felt the conservative media should have been treated by their tech allies:
“Breitbart distribution should have been reduced on Facebook for multiple misinformation violations, but Facebook’s policy team intervened to remove misinformation strikes from its account,” Russo said.
“The result? Facebook-enabled mobilization of conspiracy theorists using ‘Stop the Steal’ groups ballooned to over 300k members, before finally being taken down under pressure.”
The result? Facebook-enabled mobilization of conspiracy theorists using “Stop the Steal” groups ballooned to over 300k members, before finally being taken down under pressure.
After Facebook removed the initial group, multiple new “stop the steal” groups formed and grew rapidly.
— Bill Russo (@BillR) November 10, 2020
The communications officer cited the meteoric rise of the “stop the steal” group that amassed hundreds of thousands of followers and was then promptly removed from Facebook (though Russo didn’t seem to sit too long on the removal, just it’s organic reach on the social media platform.
“After Facebook removed the initial group, multiple new “stop the steal” groups formed and grew rapidly,” the seemingly angry Russo reported to his followers. “In its wake, Donald Trump voter fraud and election victory lies represented 17 of the top 20 posts on FB between 11/3-11/8. While Twitter disabled sharing of Trump’s election disinformation, Facebook continued to actively promote the posts in feeds.”
To be clear about the issue: Russo seems to be irate that a social media platform would allow Americans to share their thoughts, opinions, and yes, sometimes conspiracy theories, on a platform with free ingress and egress of potentially damaging information for the Biden campaign.
Essentially, Russo is pushing the notion that social media should be treated like a college classroom where only vetted and valid (aka, DNC approved) theories should be discussed, versus treating the platform like a utility company, such as a telephone provider.
Russo appears to believe that because Facebook is a private company they should exercise their right to refuse service to ideas that are considered “damaging.” The trouble for conservatives is that everything that doesn’t align with the Democrats party platform has been made into a moral atrocity, and actual moral atrocities are “rights.”
“It continues,” Russo said. “Today, a Team Trump ‘voter fraud’ disinformation press conference — so full of lies that Fox News had to cut away — ran unmediated on Facebook. After being prompted, Facebook added a woefully ineffective closable label to it.”
“We knew this would happen. We pleaded with Facebook for over a year to be serious about these problems. They have not.”
Russo ended his rant saying, dramatically, “Our democracy is on the line. We need answers.”
I think we can all agree with that; we do need answers. We also need to know that those answers weren’t prerecorded by a thoroughly biased organization like the Biden campaign.
And while we’re on the subject of things that people said would go badly, want to talk about mail-in voting? No? I get it, you might have to beg the internet provider to not assault your eyes with things you didn’t want to see, and, really, who has the time.