Biden Spokesman Calls for Further Censorship of Trump and His Supporters
A Biden campaign staffer called for further censorship online, claiming Facebook is “shredding the fabric of our democracy” in the days after the election.
Bill Russo, deputy communications director for the Biden campaign, criticized Facebook’s handling of misinformation and calls for violence in a series of Monday tweets.
“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,” Russo tweeted.
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
He first pointed to a video from Steve Bannon where he called for the heads of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray.
“I’d actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England, I’d put the heads on pikes, right, I’d put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats,” Bannon said, according to Business Insider.
Bannon was banned from Twitter, but Russo said it took too long for Facebook to take action and Bannon’s Facebook page is still live.
Steve Bannon literally called for the beheading of FBI Director Wray and Dr. Fauci in a video on November 3. It was live on Facebook for 10 hours before it was removed after a journalist inquired about the video.
Bannon? His page is still live on Facebook.
— Bill Russo (@BillR) November 10, 2020
Russo also retweeted a Reuters article that showed Facebook Groups “flooded with thousands of calls for violence.”
“Some of them are taken down, but many are left up for hours, if not days,” he said.
Facebook had to shut down the rapidly growing “Stop the Steal” group on Nov. 5 as the forum called for members to “ready their weapons” if President Donald Trump lost the election, Reuters reported.
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
Russo also criticized Facebook for not reducing the distribution of Breitbart for “multiple misinformation violations” and citing “debunked conspiracy theories” in relation to voter fraud claims.
“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,” he tweeted.
“After Facebook removed the initial group, multiple new ‘stop the steal’ groups formed and grew rapidly.”
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
Facebook has relaxed some of its “misinformation rules” and “strikes” from conservative pages in the wake of allegations of a bias against conservatives on its platform, NBC News reported.
Russo said that this has only lead to claims of “voter fraud” and “Trump’s election disinformation” being spread quickly across the platform.
“We knew this would happen. We pleaded with Facebook for over a year to be serious about these problems. They have not,” Russo concluded.
“Our democracy is on the line. We need answers.”
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