Meta Says It Mistakenly Censored Trump Assassination Photo
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Meta acknowledged that it mistakenly censored the famous photo of former President Donald Trump with his fist raised after surviving the attempt on his life.
Facebook: User 'End Wokeness' shared a screenshot of Facebook censoring and threatening to deplatform a user who shared the photo, claiming it was “altered.” The New York Post (Lean Right bias) reported this was End Wokeness’ own post, but AllSides was unable to determine this from the user’s X and Facebook accounts.
Instagram: Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk (Right) shared a similar content warning from a post on Instagram that was designated as “doctored” by USA Today Fact Check (Lean Left) and AFP Fact Check (Left). Meta spokesperson Dani Lever replied, “Yes, this was an error. This fact check was initially applied to a doctored photo showing the secret service agents smiling, and in some cases our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo. This has been fixed and we apologize for the mistake.”
How The Media Covered It: Right-rated outlets covered the story widely. Aside from Raw Story (Left bias) and Straight Arrow News (Center bias), AllSides did not find coverage from the left or center.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Facebook admits it wrongly censored iconic photo of bleeding Trump pumping his fist after assassination attempt: ‘This was an error’
Facebook acknowledged that it mistakenly censored the iconic image of former President Donald Trump with his fist raised in the immediate aftermath of the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
A post on Mark Zuckerberg’s social media site by a user with the handle End Wokeness that showed the Republican presidential candidate defiantly pumping his fist in the air while blood streams down his face had initially been flagged as misinformation.
The user was threatened with being deplatformed.
However, on Monday, Dani Lever, a spokesperson for the social network’s parent company, Meta, admitted...
From the Center
Facebook apologizes for fact-checking Trump assassination photo
Facebook apologized for mistakenly censoring a real photo of a bloodied Donald Trump post-assassination attempt, after initially targeting doctored images showing Secret Service agents smiling. The error occurred during an effort to remove a manipulated photo meant to spread misinformation. Facebook, owned by Meta, rectified the mistake, affirming the authenticity of the original photo captured by an Associated Press photographer, depicting Trump raising his fist after being shot. Meta’s action followed scrutiny and a fact-check confirming no agents were smiling, aimed at cleaning up misinformation on its platform.
From the Left
'Go after Meta and Google!' Furious Trump sics MAGA hoards on social media moguls
Donald Trump lashed out at Facebook Tuesday after the social media company apologized for fact-checking a photograph of the assassination attempt he faced earlier this month.
Trump accused both Facebook and Google of plotting against his presidential reelection bid by censuring photographs of the bloody and deadly attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
"Facebook has just admitted that it wrongly censored the Trump 'attempted assassination photo,' and got caught," Trump wrote. "Same thing for Google. They made it virtually impossible to find pictures or anything about this heinous act."
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