Facebook on Sunday labeled an apparently manipulated video of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as “partly false information.”
“The information in this post is a mix of true and false statements or it could simply be incomplete. In some cases, the information is misleading,” the social media company said, citing fact-checks from Reuters Fact Check and Lead Stories.
“The short video clip ... was digitally slowed down to make it appear as if Pelosi was intoxicated,” the fact-checker said. “The original video revealed she was speaking and acting normally.”
The video can still be viewed on Facebook, but the “See Video” button was put at the bottom while the “partly False Information” label was placed at the center of the screen.
More than 10,000 Facebook users reacted to and 138 comments were made on the post as of the noontime of Monday.
The act of placing labels on posts by social media platforms became the center of debate in a national discussion on Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act after Twitter hid one of Trump’s posts in May.
Section 230 largely provides online platforms a shield from liability for content posted by their users. The immunity, however, does not apply for content that violates anti-sex trafficking or intellectual property laws.
A core question in this debate is: should the social media platforms be treated as publishers when they put a label on a post about its accuracy and suitability?
Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.
The DOJ’s proposals, which need to be considered by Congress, would “update the outdated immunity for online platforms” under Section 230, the department said.