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Facebook Censors Iconic Trump Picture as ‘Altered Image,’ then Admits ‘Error’

Staff Writer

Top Points:

  1. Facebook Censorship and Admission of Error: Facebook mistakenly censored an iconic image of former President Donald Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt, labeling it as an "altered image." Meta later admitted the error after backlash from conservative voices.

  2. Meta AI and Google's Controversial Responses: Meta's AI chatbot inaccurately referred to the assassination attempt as "fictional," and Google’s Autocomplete failed to generate relevant search results, leading to accusations of bias and intentional interference from prominent conservatives, including Donald Trump Jr.

  3. Reignited Debate on Big Tech Influence: The incidents have sparked renewed discussions about the influence of big tech companies on political discourse and their role in content moderation, echoing previous controversies such as the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election.


Full Report:

In a move that has ignited fury among Trump supporters and conservative Americans, Facebook recently censored an iconic image of former President Donald Trump, labeling it an "altered image." Following an intense backlash, the social media giant admitted the censorship was a “mistake.”


Initially reported by Breitbart's Lucas Nolan, the incident occurred after the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. The famous image, showing Trump with a raised fist and blood streaming down his face, was flagged by Facebook's algorithms. The image was shared by the user “End Wokeness” and soon faced threats of deplatforming, drawing immediate condemnation from conservative voices.


Among those voicing their outrage was influencer Charlie Kirk, who accused Facebook of deliberately suppressing pro-Trump content. In response to the mounting criticism, Meta spokesperson Dani Lever clarified on X (formerly Twitter) that the image had been mistakenly flagged due to a fact-check on a doctored version of the photo. Lever stated, “Yes, this was an error,” and assured that the issue had been corrected, though many remained skeptical, seeing it as part of a broader pattern of bias.


The controversy didn't end there. Meta’s AI chatbot, Meta AI, was also under fire for referring to the assassination attempt as “fictional.” Screenshots circulated on social media showed the AI giving inconsistent and inaccurate responses about the incident. A Meta representative acknowledged the problem, stating they were working on a fix to ensure more accurate responses.


Further fueling the debate, Google was accused of bias when users found that its Autocomplete function didn’t generate results related to the Trump assassination attempt. Donald Trump Jr. went as far as to label it “intentional election interference,” suggesting it was an effort to favor Vice President Kamala Harris.


These incidents have revived discussions about the power of big tech companies in shaping political narratives and their potential to influence elections. This isn't the first time major tech platforms have faced such accusations; they had previously banned Trump following the January 6 Capitol riot, a ban that has since been lifted.


The ongoing controversies recall other high-profile content moderation decisions, such as the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story by both Twitter (now X) and Facebook ahead of the 2020 election, which many conservatives argue was another instance of tech bias against them.


Original Story by Lucas Nolan, Breitbart

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