Jenny Goldsberry – Two anonymous whistleblowers from Facebook reportedly came forward to Project Veritas to reveal that the social media platform is newly curbing content surrounding vaccine concerns. They have also leaked internal documents allegedly proving that an algorithm to censor these posts is in the works.
BREAKING: @Facebook Whistleblowers Expose LEAKED INTERNAL DOCS Detailing New Effort to Secretly Censor Vaccine Concerns on a Global Scale#ExposeFacebook pic.twitter.com/8VBYQSdxlz
— Eric Spracklen🇺🇸 (@EricSpracklen) May 25, 2021
According to the leaked documents, posts surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine are allegedly given a “Vaccine Hesitancy Score.” The algorithm tags posts that appear to be about the vaccine and then determines if it’s spreading false information, expressing doubt or promoting vaccine alternatives.
“And then based on that score, will demote or leaving the comment alone based on the content within the comment,” one of the alleged whistleblowers told founder O’Keefe. Should the algorithm not work on a particular tagged post, a human rater will reportedly make a decision on the post. A “demotion” is equivalent to being shadow banned by the platform.
These beta tests aren’t just for English posts. They’ve also supposedly tested the algorithm for up to 60 languages. It also applies to Instagram posts, since Facebook purchased the platform in 2012.
“What would happen if this was scaled larger and scaled to Twitter and the internet as a whole is way worse than anything that could happen from me getting fired from my job,” the whistleblower said.
The other whistleblower is allegedly the same source that revealed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is an anti-vaxxer himself. He said they often talk about all facets of opinion regarding the vaccine within the office.
“Why is it okay for us to have these conversations at work as adults and not have somebody step in an say ‘Hey you need to stop talking about that’?” the whistleblower said. Yet, on the platform itself those same conversations are being censored. “It’s very ironic.”
In a statement earlier this month, Facebook announced its new policy surrounding vaccine content. They promised to “Encourag[e] people to share their support for vaccines,” “address content that could discourage people from getting vaccinated” and “reduce [discouraging vaccination posts’] distribution on Facebook.” Already, they’ve seen a 10% increase in vaccine acceptance since January.
◾️To continue addressing COVID-19 vaccine misinfo, we’re adding labels to posts about vaccines that show credible info from @WHO.
◾️We're sharing real-time trends in vaccinations, intent to get vaccinated and reasons for hesitancy with public officials to inform their work. pic.twitter.com/fhUvxRVjtS
— Meta (@Meta) March 15, 2021
According to Facebook, the number one reason users are hesitant to get the vaccine is concern about its side effects. The number two reason is users don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine at all.
SF Source Sara Carter May 2021