Facebook has decided to keep an acoustically modified video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the platform, despite allegations that the clip was deliberated altered, in a crude way though, to make her speech appear slow and slurred.
A Facebook spokesperson has kicked off the company’s statement by referring to “a tension here” and then went on to specify:
“We work hard to find the right balance between encouraging free expression and promoting a safe and authentic community.” Facebook remarked that they deem the reduction of distribution of “inauthentic content” strikes the aforementioned balance.
“But just because something is allowed to be on Facebook doesn’t mean it should get distribution. In other words, we allow people to post it as a form of expression, but we’re not going to show it at the top of News Feed,” the spokesperson rounded off.
The tech giant noted that it had begun to limit the clip’s distribution in the News Feed after one of its fact-checking partners reviewed the video and rated it as false. In the meantime, Google-owned YouTube pulled the video down from its platform, apparently considering the altercation to have gone too far.
Netizens, including President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, have used the video to call into question Pelosi’s competence and mental state. In a now-deleted tweet, Giuliani shared a link to the controversial video with the caption:
“What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi? Her speech pattern is bizarre.” Giuliani later appeared to apologize on Twitter for sharing the video and took the original post down.
A fake video showing an apparently intoxicated US House Speaker went viral across social media platforms on Thursday, according to a report by The Washington Post. The edition noted citing experts the video had been obviously edited in order to make Pelosi look and sound as if she were intoxicated.
According to the report, the footage sporting Pelosi taking the floor at the Centre for American Progress on Wednesday was slowed down to 75 per cent of its original speed as well as heavily modified for pitch.