Facebook removes misinformation label from Himanta Biswa Sarma’s video about ‘pro-Pakistan’ slogans
The company said independent fact-checks don’t apply to politicians.
Facebook on Monday withdrew restrictions on a video shared by Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accusing Opposition leaders of shouting “pro-Pakistan” slogans. The social media platform had labelled it as “false information” on Saturday, preventing users from sharing it.
The company then said the video had been analysed by independent fact-checkers and the information shared by Sarma had no factual basis. But on Monday, a Facebook spokesperson said politicians are exempted from its third-party fact-checking programme and the label had been placed erroneously on Sarma’s post, The Indian Express reported.
“Video is a genuine one and not doctored,” Sarma said on Twitter in reply to a user. “Good that the video is restored once again.”
Video is a genuine one and not doctored. Good that the video is restored once again https://t.co/Pb8EHF024U
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) November 9, 2020
On November 7, the minister had shared a video, claiming that supporters of All India United Democratic Front MP Badruddin Ajmal were shouting “pro-Pakistan” slogans at Silchar airport in Assam.
“Look at the brazenness of these fundamentalists anti-national people who are shouting PAKISTAN ZINDABAD while they welcome MP [Badruddin] Ajmal,” he wrote on Facebook, along with the video. “This thoroughly exposes Indian National Congress which is encouraging such forces by forging an alliance. We shall fight them tooth and nail. Jai Hind.”
The All India United Democratic Front had clarified that its supporters shouted “Aziz Khan zindabad” for a party leader. The party added that fact-checking websites such as AltNews and BoomLive had also supported their claim.
AltNews and BoomLive said that they found that AIUDF supporters raised the slogans of “Aziz Khan zindabad” and not “Pakistan zindabad”.
Sarma, on the other hand, had claimed that Facebook had not flagged posts that are against the Bharatiya Janata Party as misinformation. “A case has been registered and the police will get the video examined by the forensic department,” he said. “But Facebook has already given its verdict, which proves how well-oiled the mechanism is. So many fake news have appeared against us and Facebook has not taken them off.”
