Former Biden digital strategy chief Robert Flaherty suggested Facebook change its algorithm to promote corporate news outlets over conservative sources, according to documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. .
Flaherty made the suggestion during an April 14 phone call with the White House and Facebook, according to documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee. According to call records reviewed by the DCNF, Flaherty characterizes traditional publications as “authoritative” while calling conservative sources “polarizing.”
“If you change the algorithm so that people are more likely to see the NYT, WSJ, authoritative news sources than the Daily Wire or Tomi Lahren, people will be polarized,” Flaherty asked. rice field. “Isn’t there a mechanism to check for material effects?” (Related: Biden Administration Tells Facebook That Censoring “Bad Content” Is “Our Top Concern”)
But that’s not all.
The Biden White House wanted to control what you saw on Facebook.
They questioned whether Facebook could change its algorithm so that users post more from The New York Times and less from The New York Times. @realDailyWire and @TomiLahren. pic.twitter.com/oZUDDv6324
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 3, 2023
Flaherty asked the question after a Facebook executive (names redacted) raised the possibility that public speeches could lead to further hesitation to vaccinate, and now Outkick host Tomi・He mentioned that Mr. Laren posted that he does not plan to catch the new coronavirus infection. shot.
“We are uncovering new examples of comments, and more celebrities on the comments may be contributing,” the official said. “I posted about how Tomi Lahren can’t get the vaccine.”
The subcommittee obtained the documents as part of an investigation into the Joe Biden administration’s efforts to censor social media.
The White House also pressured Facebook to censor a video about the April 2021 vaccine produced by former Fox News host and Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson, but the video did not violate the platform’s policies. according to Against an injunction by a federal judge.
The White House, Facebook and Meta did not immediately respond to DCNF’s requests for comment.
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