Senators raise responsibility for Facebook attack on Capitol Hill

It has been proven that a series of malfunctions was detected during the storming of the Capitol. Even if in 2020, more than 4 billion fake accounts were deleted on Facebook, hate speech was able to circulate without problem on the networks. Indeed, the Facebook teams have not stopped the spread of these publications on the social platform. But it would appear that Mark Zuckerberg now has to answer for these failings of his company.

Facebook accused of spreading calls for protest

During the attack on the Capitol, messages including “Stop the Steal” saw tremendous growth on the network. It was therefore considered to be calls for demonstrations and for supremacist comments.

Facebook officials quickly decided to remove some videos that included this expression and very quickly made the drastic decision to temporarily exclude Donald Trump from the platform. A spokesperson for the company said steps have already been taken to limit content aimed at delegitimizing the election, including the suspension of political ads.

Facebook defends itself against the accusation against them

Sheryl Sandberg, the current COO of Facebook, said that “ the events were mainly organized on platforms, which do not have our capacities to stop hatred “. Facebook executives have claimed that they have in no way contributed to the violence carried out by supporters who stormed the capitol on January 6. They even qualify this situation as a dysfunction at the system level because, according to them, they have already worked hard to maintain a neutral climate on the networks before this election.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, nevertheless admitted to having some comments spread on the platform. But he also defended himself by asserting that the principle of the network is to leave room for freedom of expression. Thus, he believes that it is this freedom of expression that pushed the demonstrators to come to demand the count of the elections.

In addition, the company has refuted the numerous accusations made by the press against it that Facebook voluntarily allowed this broadcast. The spokesperson for the company concludes that “ the responsibility for the violence of January 6 rests with those who attacked the Capitol and those who encouraged them ».

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