Facebook has a high opinion of itself. Its leadership appears to believe that its point of view on what is and is not a major news item is more important than that of the President of the United States.
In November, Facebook banned any and all mention of the alleged whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella. But this came with an important caveat — Facebook said that the ban would be lifted if Ciaramella was identified by enough “public figures.”
What kind of public figures? Facebook didn’t say.
But as of today, it seems the President of the United States is not public enough for them. The policy is still in effect, despite the fact that more than 20 hours ago, President Donald Trump retweeted a link to an article identifying the alleged whistleblower as Eric Ciaramella.
Perhaps, when Facebook says it will alter its policies if enough “public figures” get involved, we can assume the company means “Democrats.”
As of today, the alleged whistleblower has been named by President Trump, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Students for Trump co-chairman Ryan Fournier, former Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka, and bestselling author Dinesh D’Souza.
Conservative media figures that have named the alleged whistleblower include radio hosts Mark Levin and Glenn Beck, One America News host Jack Posobiec, and TownHall.com senior columnist Kurt Schlichter.
Figures in the mainstream media who have named him include New York Magazine and HuffPost contributor Yashar Ali (in a since-deleted tweet) and Saagar Enjeti, Chief Washington Correspondent for the Hill.
Publishers that have named the alleged whistleblower include Heavy.com, the Washington Examiner, the Federalist, and the Western Journal.
With the President of the United States now tweeting out the alleged whistleblower’s name, a man allegedly responsible for one of the most significant chapters in his first term (clown shows can be significant if Congress decides to make them so, I suppose), what will it now take to persuade Facebook to change its policy?
Is the impeachment drama, and the name of the man who allegedly helped kick it off, really not a newsworthy story to Facebook? And is the President really not a big enough public figure? Zuckerberg may think he’s a modern-day Augustus Caesar, but he doesn’t get to ignore presidents just yet.
Are you an insider at Facebook, YouTube, Google, Reddit or any other tech company who wants to confidentially reveal wrongdoing or political bias at your company? Reach out to Allum Bokhari at his secure email address allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.