Well Whaddyaknow? Facebook Actually Removes PragerU Bullshit About "Thriving" Polar Bears
EDIT
The straw that broke the camel’s back? A video about polar bears thriving, which was fact checked by ClimateFeedback, where the video’s claims were identified as cherry-picking. Only 2 of 19 subpopulations of polar bears have populations that are likely increasing, while there are several others that are shrinking, so it’s dishonest to say that the bears are thriving, even where sea ice loss is erasing their habitat.
Now, this isn’t the first time Facebook has downgraded propaganda or checked a climate claim, but maybe this time they’ll stick to their guns. Because last year they un-fact-checked a denier op-ed after conservatives successfully worked the refs and attacked Climate Feedback, a website where climate scientists provide feedback on the veracity of climate science claims, as an “alarmist advocacy group.”
And of course propaganda groups are following the usual playbook and crying censorship, with a fossil fuel group promoting a story from Breitbart rising to PragerU’s defense, and WUWT posting a detailed rebuttal from the debunked polar bear denier (which basically just relitigates the issue.)
Before anyone breaks out the champagne and “Mission Accomplished” banners declaring victory on disinformation, this might be a good time to remind everyone that — according to Facebook’s VP of global public policy, and former George W. Bush Deputy Chief of Staff, Joel Kaplan — Facebook “can’t remove all of [the fake news] because it will disproportionately affect conservatives.” Still, hopefully Facebook doesn’t back down this time. PragerU is as big and obvious a bad faith propagandist as there is, so if anyone deserves to be “censored” by having limits put on how easy it is for their lies to be spread, it’s PragerU.
EDIT
https://redgreenandblue.org/2020/05/23/facebook-finally-takes-action-propaganda-polar-bear-climate-change-denial-video/
