Facebook doubled down Wednesday on censoring pro-life organization Live Action just hours after four Republican U.S. senators wrote to CEO Mark Zuckerberg to condemn the social media giant’s decision to declare “false” the group’s pro-life content based on the views of two abortionists.
“In possible retaliation against a letter from US Senators to Mark Zuckerberg, @Facebook just sent ANOTHER alert to thousands of our followers saying @LiveAction’s content is “false” – using the ‘fact check’ by two abortionists,” Live Action President Lila Rose tweeted. “They also added a ‘violation’ to our page.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also tweeted, “Just hours after I and @sentedcruz @senkevincramer @senatorbraun sent a letter to Facebook about allowing abortion activists to “fact check” pro-life group @liveaction, Facebook doubled down & censored them AGAIN.”
In their letter to Zuckerberg, Hawley and GOP colleagues Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Mike Braun (R-IN) denounced Facebook’s decision to rate as “false” videos shared by Live Action that featured Dr. Kendra Kolb, a board-certified neonatologist, and a speech by Live Action President Lila Rose. The videos focused on the well-established view that abortion is not a medically necessary procedure.
The senators observed to Zuckerberg that Facebook made its determination the pro-life content was “false” based on the views of two abortionists, Daniel Grossman, who “sits on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation,” and Robyn Schickler, a “Fellow with the pro-abortion advocacy group Physicians for Reproductive Health.”
“No reasonable person would describe Grossman or Schickler as neutral or objective when it comes to the issue of abortion, yet Facebook relied on their rating to suppress and censor a pro-life organization with more than 3 million followers,” the senators wrote.
Dr. Donna Harrison, executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists (AAPLOG), said in a statement, “These fact-checkers need to be fact-checked.”
“They are in error to claim that elective abortion is medically necessary to save the life of the mother,” Harrison asserted. “They did not cite even one example where an abortion, the intentional killing of a living child in utero, would be superior to delivering that child.”
Cruz tweeted, “This is deeply concerning and the very reason I, @HawleyMO, and so many members of Congress are working to stop Big Tech from arbitrarily silencing conservative voices.”
In their letter to Zuckerberg, the Republican senators denounced the actions of Facebook as consistent with those of other tech giants, such as “Twitter, Google, Pinterest and so many other social media firms” that evidence has shown have acted with “bias against those with conservative viewpoints, especially on the issue of abortion.”
“And in response, you have repeatedly insisted that these numerous incidents of discrimination, censorship, and suppression of speech are merely glitches, not evidence of systemic bias,” the senators asserted.
The GOP leaders called upon Facebook to “immediately issue a correction,” remove restrictions on Live Action’s site, and “submit to an external audit.”
“The only thing more astonishing than your claim to nonpartisanship is your complete failure to back that claim with proof,” the senators wrote, indicating they are awaiting a response from the tech giant.