THAT ZUCKS: Facebook censors, threatens Disrn for sharing W.H.O. official’s exact words.

via disrn

Facebook censored a news post from Disrn on Monday and threatened us with having our “overall distribution reduced,” our “ability to monetize and advertise removed,” and our “ability to register as a news Page removed.”

The post flagged by Facebook linked to this Disrn story reporting the words of a World Health Organization official, who said on June 8 that asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus was “very rare.” Almost all mainstream news outlets reported this story on June 8, and so did Disrn.

The next day, W.H.O. walked back the comments, and Disrn reported the retraction on that very same day.

Disrn received a warning from Facebook on Monday, accusing the original story of containing “partly false information.” The warning also threatened to reduce our visibility on Facebook, demonetize us, and remove our status as a news page:

To fight false news, Facebook reduces the distribution of misleading content while also showing additional reporting on the same topic.

Pages and websites that repeatedly publish or share misleading content will see their overall distribution reduced, their ability to monetize and advertise removed, and their ability to register as a news Page removed. People will also be able to see if a Page has a history of sharing false news.

Deleting the misleading content won’t affect these outcomes.

Apparently Facebook’s new commitment to open debate didn’t last as long as was hoped.

h/t SG