{"id":2264048,"date":"2024-06-10T13:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T17:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politico-laments-that-whatsapp-isnt-specifically-targeting-election-speech-for-censorship\/"},"modified":"2024-06-10T13:54:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T17:54:04","slug":"politico-laments-that-whatsapp-isnt-specifically-targeting-election-speech-for-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politico-laments-that-whatsapp-isnt-specifically-targeting-election-speech-for-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"Politico Criticizes WhatsApp for Not Actively Censoring Election-Related Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpolitico-laments-that-whatsapp-isnt-specifically-targeting-election-speech-for-censorship%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2264048&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Politico reported concerns regarding the absence of policies \u2063against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-trump-meme-maker-ricky-vaughn-indicted-for-using-twitter-to-spread-election-disinformation-to-hillary-clinton-voters-faces-10-years-in-prison\/\" title=\"Pro-Trump Meme Maker \u201cRicky Vaughn\u201d Indicted For Using Twitter to \u2018Spread Election Disinformation\u2019 to Hillary Clinton Voters \u2013 Faces 10 Years in Prison\">election disinformation<\/a> on WhatsApp Channels, a platform \u200callowing public posts alongside private \u200dchats. \u2064Unlike Meta&#8217;s other platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Threads),\u2062 which have robust measures against\u200d &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/x-blocks-first-amendment-focused-nonprofit-from-promoting-non-political-festival\/\" title=\"X prohibits First Amendment-focused nonprofit from promoting non-political festival.\">election \u200cmisinformation<\/a>,&#8221; \u200bWhatsApp Channels lacks explicit\u2063 regulations. The article underscores fears voiced by lawmakers, disinformation specialists, and former Meta employees about potential risks during an election-heavy \u2063year globally.\u200c Despite some contentious instances where Meta censored \u200btrue information, such as the Hunter Biden laptop\u2063 story, Politico\u200c stresses\u200b the\u200d necessity for more stringent \u200bgovernance on\u200b such issues, suggesting that oversight primarily depends on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-calls-for-special-session-that-will-address-threat-of-big-tech-censorship\/\" title=\"DeSantis Calls For Special Session That Will Address Threat Of Big Tech Censorship\">social media platforms due<\/a> to insufficient federal actions and regulations in the U.S.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Politico expressed frustration that Big Tech\u2019s censorship apparatus hasn\u2019t yet been fully deployed against election speech on WhatsApp Channels.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/06\/07\/meta-election-guardrails-whatsapp-channels-00161073\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico<\/a>\u2018s tech policy reporter Rebecca Kern lamented in a piece on Friday that WhatsApp Channels, which allows users to make public posts, not just communicate within private chats, has no \u201cexplicit election-disinformation policies.\u201d The outlet cited \u201clawmakers, disinformation experts and former Meta employees\u201d to parrot concerns that such a lack of speech-policing \u201ccould pose grave risks in a year when nearly half the globe is casting major votes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Meta\u2019s other platforms have what Politico euphemistically describes as \u201cclear guardrails\u201d against \u201celection misinformation.\u201d Some of those \u201cguardrails\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/transparency.meta.com\/policies\/community-standards\/misinformation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">include<\/a> censorship of content that Meta deems \u201clikely to directly contribute to interference with the functioning of political processes and certain highly deceptive manipulated media,\u201d according to Meta policy.<\/p>\n<p>This \u201ccontent\u201d has sometimes included true information. Famously, with help from the FBI, Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/30\/zuckerbergs-admission-of-fbi-meddling-in-2020-election-is-even-bigger-than-it-seems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">throttled<\/a> the New York Post\u2019s bombshell reporting about the Hunter Biden laptop, treating it as \u201cpotentially misinformation.\u201d The laptop and its contents were <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/22\/fbi-knew-hunter-bidens-laptop-was-authentic-a-year-before-pressuring-big-tech-to-censor-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entirely true<\/a> and have most recently been <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hunter-biden-trial-federal-gun-charges-jury-477c0ca9d07afc1a52bd90ef6d2167cb#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">used<\/a> by federal prosecutors as evidence in Hunter Biden\u2019s trial on gun crime charges.<\/p>\n<p>But because the federal government isn\u2019t doing enough to shut down protected speech, Politico fretted, it must fall to Big Tech companies. \u201cWith few misinformation laws in place, and no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tsa-can-now-fine-you-for-not-masking-up-following-biden-executive-order\/\" title=\"TSA Can Now Fine You For Not Masking Up Following Biden Executive Order\">federal regulations<\/a> in the U.S., users rely on social media platforms\u2019 enforcement of their policies to protect them from election falsehoods,\u201d the outlet lamented.<\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp <a href=\"https:\/\/faq.whatsapp.com\/5059120540855664?helpref=faq_content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">partners<\/a> with more than 50 so-called \u201cfact-checking\u201d groups and told Politico it \u201ccan remove content and revoke accounts that violate its community guidelines.\u201d But that\u2019s not enough censorship for Politico\u2019s taste.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READNEXT:[READNEXT:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/29\/dems-election-worker-threat-narrative-is-a-bald-faced-scare-tactic-weve-seen-before\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats\u2019 Election Worker \u2018Threat\u2019 Narrative Is A Bald-Faced Scare Tactic We\u2019ve Seen Before<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The outlet cited Russia collusion hoaxer Rep. Adam Schiff to demand WhatsApp Channels censor so-called \u201celection misinformation\u201d \u2014 which often means information that\u2019s inconvenient for Democrats \u2014 ahead of the election because if they don\u2019t, \u201cdemocratic processes in the United States and across the globe\u201d would be threatened. Similarly, chairman of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/12\/house-report-j6-committee-hid-troves-of-records-and-testimony-undermining-democrat-conspiracies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sham<\/a> Jan. 6 committee Rep. Bennie Thompson told Politico he hopes Meta will create and enforce rules against disfavored election speech to \u201cprotect democratic institutions, especially the right to vote and have confidence in election results\u201d \u2014 because nothing screams \u201cconfidence in election results\u201d like censoring speech about them.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Politico criticized Big Tech for not extending censorship to election speech on WhatsApp Channels. Tech reporter Rebecca Kern highlighted the platform&#8217;s lack of specific policies against election disinformation in public posts, contrasting with private chat controls. The concern was detailed in a recent article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2264049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/49897226177_24b15addad_k-e1718036083126.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2264048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/49897226177_24b15addad_k-e1718036083126.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2264048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2264048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2264048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2264049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2264048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2264048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2264048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}