Four Republican senators on Wednesday accused Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for its "pattern of censorship" in screening postings by the pro-life group Live Action based on fact-checking by two abortion activists.
In a letter to Zuckerberg, Sens. Mike Braun, Ind.; Kevin Cramer, N.D.; Ted Cruz, Texas; and Josh Hawley, Mo., called for an "external" audit of Facebook that is "real and meaningful" to assess the company's claims of nonpartisanship regarding conservative groups.
"Your company, like Twitter, Google, Pinterest and so many of the other major social media firms in Silicon Valley, has repeatedly been presented with evidence of bias against those with conservative viewpoints, especially on the issue of abortion," the senators said in the letter.
According to the senators, Facebook told Live Action on Aug. 30 that two pro-life videos on the organization's page and that of its president, Lila Rose, were marked as "false" — based on a fact-check article by Daniel Grossman and Robyn Schickler.
Grossman sits on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation and Robyn Shickler is a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health, according to the letter.
One video featured Rose and the other included Dr. Kendra Kolb, a board-certified neonatologist. Both videos claimed that abortion is not medically necessary.
After the "false" designation, Facebook barred Rose and Live Action from promoting or advertising content and alerted users who had shared the videos that they had spread "false news."
"No reasonable person would describe Grossman or Shickler as neutral or objective when it comes to the issue of abortion," the senators said, "yet Facebook relied on their rating to suppress and censor a pro-life organization with more than 3 million followers."
The senators slammed the move as a violation of "Facebook’s supposed commitment to nonpartisanship."
The letter called on Facebook to issue a correction, remove restrictions on Rose and Live Action, and submit to an external audit, which they demanded must be "real and meaningful."
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