Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook made an error in determining that the Facebook page of pro-Trump bloggers Diamond and Silk was "unsafe to the community."
During his testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said his team made an "enforcement error" in suppressing Diamond and Silk's page, which is followed by 1.4 million people.
Responding to a question from Texas Rep. Joe Barton, Zuckerberg said, "In that specific case, our team made an enforcement error. We have gotten in touch with them to reverse it."
The questions from members of Congress follow repeated public complaints from the popular bloggers about Facebook's decision to suppress the page.
Why is @Facebook stopping some people that have liked and followed our @DiamondandSilk page from seeing our content first even though they are following FB instructions? This is what we call undercover bias tactics. "CENSORSHIP" Press play, here's the proof. https://t.co/14WjcEe9g3
After Zuckerberg spoke about how Facebook removes terrorism-related content, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn told him, "Let me tell you something right now. Diamond and Silk is not terrorism."
Republican Rep. Steve Scalise asked Zuckerberg if the employees responsible for the decision were held accountable for their actions. Zuckerberg responded that he would have to follow up on that as "that situation developed" while he was preparing for his testimony to Congress.
During Tuesday's Senate hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz also asked Zuckerberg why it had "blocked Trump supporters Diamond and Silk's page with 1.2 million Facebook followers after determining their content and brand was 'unsafe to the community.'"
Today I questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook’s past censorship of conservative groups. I asked if the same actions had ever been taken against liberal groups, but did not get an answer. https://t.co/IEuad3uJk5
Brad Parscale, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, said Facebook was "attacking" conservative voices like Diamond and Silk.
Senator @tedcruz is right. Why @DiamondandSilk? Why the attack on conservative voices?
While Zuckerberg did not specifically address the issue with Diamond and Silk's content during his testimony on Tuesday, he told Cruz that "Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely left-leaning place."
Last week, Diamond and Silk used Twitter to accuse Facebook of "bias censorship and discrimination" against their brand. The bloggers said that millions of people "who have liked and/or followed our page no longer receives notification" and that their reach had been reduced "by a very large percentage."
.@DiamondandSilk have been corresponding since September 7, 2017, with @facebook (owned by Mark Zuckerberg), about their bias censorship and discrimination against D&S brand page. Finally after several emails, chats, phone calls, appeals, beating around the bush, lies, and......
The bloggers said that Facebook's policy team told them that "your content and your brand has been determined unsafe to the community" and that the decision was final.
....Facebook. Thu, Apr 5, 2018 at 3:40 PM: "The Policy team has came to the conclusion that your content and your brand has been determined unsafe to the community." Yep, this was FB conclusion after 6 Months, 29 days, 5 hrs, 40 minutes and 43 seconds. Oh and guess what else...
"These tactics are unacceptable and we want answers," Diamond and Silk said.
.....Lastly, didn't FB violate their own policy when FB stopped sending notifications to the Millions of people who liked and followed our brand page? This is deliberate bias censorship and discrimination. These tactics are unacceptable and we want answers! ~Diamond and Silk https://t.co/wQqtub8Ges
Conservative media, including Fox News, have supported the bloggers, giving them a platform to complain about Facebook and Zuckerberg in the week leading up to the congressional hearings.
Radio Show Recap: 4/10 - @DiamondandSilk are the latest victims of conservative censorship on Facebook; Threat of war becomes very real as Navy warships set sail... https://t.co/zT93zgp59B