Facebook, Twitter refuse to take down edited Pelosi video
Washington: Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube have refused to pull down an edited video posted by US President Donald Trump that showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up a copy of the former’s State of the Union address.
The five-minute video, posted on Trump’s social media accounts, shows Pelosi tearing up the speech after Trump honoured several Americans and saluted a Tuskegee airman in the audience.
The fact of the matter is that Pelosi ripped up the speech after Trump concluded his address on Tuesday night.
“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, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, tweeted on Friday.
Hammill and several Democratic lawmakers called on social media networks to pull down the video but to no avail.
Twitter and Facebook said it didn’t violate their policies.
The video was seen by nearly 4 million people on Twitter, more than 2 million on Facebook and more than 4 million on Facebook-owned Instagram, reports CNET.
Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesman, replied to Hammill on Twitter: “Sorry, are you suggesting the President didn’t make those remarks and the Speaker didna¿t rip the speech?”
Hammill said: “What planet are you living on? This is deceptively altered. Take it down.”
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar tweeted at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: “This video is clearly another deceptive effort by @realDonaldTrump to mislead and manipulate the American people. Hey @jack, show your commitment to cut down on the misinformation corroding our nation and take down this fake video.”
Facebook and Twitter had refused to remove an earlier ‘deepfake’ video of Pelosi that was edited to give the impression she is slurring her words.