Facebook admits it censored WikiLeak’s DNC email dump
By Ted Goodman | July 26, 2016, 6:54 EDT
Facebook admitted Sunday that it blocked links to WikiLeaks’ trove of emails that were hacked from the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
WikiLeaks took to Twitter Saturday night informing followers that Facebook was censoring content and offered people an alternative way to post links to Facebook from WikiLeaks.
For those facing censorship on Facebook etc when trying to post links directly to WikiLeaks #DNCLeak try using https://t.co/2b9Kn1RITr
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 24, 2016
Twitter users then tweeted screenshots at WikiLeaks of the message they received from Facebook when they tried to post something about the DNC hacked emails.
@wikileaks there you go! #DNCLeaks pic.twitter.com/cfSUo4hvz0
— Adryenn Ashley (@adryenn) July 24, 2016
One Twitter user explained that, “Facebook has an automated system for detecting spam/malicious links, that sometimes have false positives.” Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos acknowledged the censorship and tweeted at WikiLeaks Sunday, saying the social media giant “fixed” the problem.
@SwiftOnSecurity @wikileaks It’s been fixed.
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) July 24, 2016
While Facebook has acknowledged it blocked the WikiLeaks DNC email dump, it has not explained why.
This is just the latest incident of censorship by the social media giant. A former Facebook employee informed the tech news site Gizmodo in early May that the company was biased against conservative groups, saying Facebook “routinely suppresses conservative news.”
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