Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the platform of political bias for removing the video of doctors promoting hydroxychloroquine.
In the letter, Landry accuses Facebook of using algorithms to silence dissenting voices.
“It seems you and your team at Facebook choose to censor or misuse your algorithms to downplay voices on one side of issues while failing to do so on the other. This now appears to be true when it comes to treatments for COVID-19,” he wrote in the letter.
We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.
Landry feels that social platforms should not exercise “Orwellian benevolence” but allow users to make their own decisions.
“I am asking that you respect the agency and intelligence of the American people to make their own decisions, free from your Orwellian benevolence.”
The main video in question is a press conference held at the steps of the Supreme Court in DC by a team of doctors calling themselves the “American Frontline Doctors.” These doctors, who have first-hand experience treating COVID-19, promoted hydroxychloroquine.
However, their claims are against the standing of the WHO and CDC, who insist HCQ is not an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus. These organizations insist there is no cure for COVID-19 yet, and the best way to protect yourself is social distancing, wearing face masks, and waiting for a vaccine.
Facebook has Covid-19 ? “misinformation” policies. The platform flags any content that contains what it thinks is false or dangerous information about the pandemic. Users are then redirected to what it says are “credible” sources of information, such as the WHO.
Landry said Facebook should not use information from the WHO because the organization is “politically motivated.”
People deserve to hear all voices and stories so they can evaluate information and make decisions for themselves,” Landry wrote. “Unfortunately, while Facebook is known for connecting people and ideas, it seems to now be blinding users into believing this pandemic cannot be defeated without a single wonder drug and a vaccine.”
“You can set aside hysteria, fear, and politics. You can give access to all the information available on this pandemic. You can allow users to make decisions for themselves.”
