Just saw this op-ed in the Washington Post titled “Facebook took down our fact-check on medically necessary abortions. That’s dangerous.” The op-ed is written by two practicing experts in obstetrics and reproductive sciences -
The gist of the opinion piece -
Last month, the anti-abortion group Live Action posted a video to the Facebook page of its founder Lila Rose, claiming abortion was never medically necessary, and Facebook asked the fact-checking site Health Feedback to review it. Health Feedback reached out to us as medical professionals, and we both commented that the video was inaccurate.
What happened next seems less shocking in an era when politicians routinely dismiss fact as fiction: Republican Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Ted Cruz (Tex.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), and Mike Braun (Ind.) sent a letter to Facebook complaining that the fact-check was biased, and Facebook responded by removing our assessment. Rose’s inaccurate video remains posted.
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Neither of us is interested in having a shouting match with Lila Rose or Republican senators or any other advocate making claims about when abortion should or should not be performed. This is a question about the practice of medicine and the real-life needs of patients, and those with medical expertise are the ones best suited to answer it. When every major medical group agrees that abortion is sometimes medically necessary, it’s time to recognize that as fact.
Apparently, the fact-check was submitted on Aug 30; as a result, a link appeared next to the Live Action videos on Facebook, notifying viewers of the inaccurate information in the videos. Facebook subsequently succumbed to pressure from Live Action, the right-wing noise machine and the 4 republican senators and removed the fact-check. The argument from conservatives was that the doctors were biased (well I got news for you — science and the truth have a liberal bias). See www.buzzfeednews.com/… and www.mediamatters.org/… for more details.
Statement from Facebook, as reported in www.buzzfeednews.com/… -
"We have been in touch with the IFCN (the International Fact-Checking Network) which has opened an investigation to determine whether the fact checkers who rated this content did so by following procedures designed to ensure impartiality," a Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News in a statement. "While the IFCN investigates, we are removing the relevant fact checks and have communicated this to the members of the US Senate who brought this specific concern to our attention.”
I am not sure how we should fight back this scourge in our society where medical science (and other sciences, even the weather) is politicized by one party and major social and media outlets blatantly suppress facts while freely spreading disinformation in true Orwellian manner. The right seems to be organized as a marauding army of rabid hyenas — dominating the discourse on Facebook, twitter and other social media outlets and intimidating the MSM.
Hopefully kossacks will have some practical suggestions on how we can respond and make a difference. If nothing else, we need to keep spreading the truth and help GOTV.