Election Integrity: Governor DeSantis Is Going After Facebook

Better late than never, right?

Governor Ron DeSantis has been doing a lot of things right in Florida, and his recent push to investigate Facebook for their role in electioneering during the 2020 election is definitely on that list.

DeSantis is alleging that Facebook has a two-tiered content moderation system which subjects most users to their draconian left-wing community policies, but not people specifically hand chosen by the company behind closed doors.

This is a huge problem, and according to DeSantis its negative effects have been mostly felt in local elections.

Here’s his letter to the Florida Secretary of State:

I am authorizing @FLSecofState and the Florida Department of State to open an investigation into Facebook’s alleged election interference through its whitelisting program.
 
Floridians deserve to know how much Big Tech has influenced our elections. pic.twitter.com/rmGmZ6BK6T

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 27, 2021

“It’s no secret that Big Tech censors have long enforced their own rules inconsistently,” said DeSantis.@GovRonDeSantis directed #Florida’s secretary of state to open an investigation into whether #Facebook violated the state’s election laws. https://t.co/pRxTtUscez

— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) September 29, 2021

Fox Business reports:

Gov. Ron DeSantis has directed Florida’s secretary of state’s office to launch a probe into whether Facebook has violated any of the state’s election laws through its program granting purported preferential treatment to some candidates.

The governor pointed to The Wall Street Journal’s bombshell report from earlier this month regarding internal documents about the social media giant’s XCheck program, which Facebook itself admits grants a second level of review for high-profile users like politicians – but not every candidate in every race.

"The thought of technology companies clandestinely manipulating elections is an affront to the basic principles of our republic."@GovRonDeSantis is leading the fight against Big Tech.https://t.co/cPUs4BcPDN

— Free Speech America (@FreeSpeechAmer) September 28, 2021

https://twitter.com/meyer0656/status/1443193746082914307

Politico had more:

The governor gave a blanket edict to Lee’s office, which did not return a request seeking comment, to “determine whether any violations of Florida’s election laws took place.”

The Wall Street Journal reported the program has since been scrapped, but the company did confirm to the newspaper that it was in place for at least portions of the 2020 election. Florida’s social media bill, however, was signed by DeSantis in May, so it did not yet exist during the 2020 elections. 

“The cross check system was designed for an important reason: to create an additional step so we can accurately enforce policies on content that could require more understanding,” said Facebook spokesperson Drew Pusateri. “This could include activists raising awareness of instances of violence or journalists reporting from conflict zones. Facebook itself identified the issues with cross check and has been working to address them. We’ve made investments, built a dedicated team, and have been redesigning cross check to improve how the system operates.”