Who Checks the Fact-Checkers?

Every day, politically engaged social media users dread being dinged by “independent fact-checkers” and rated as “false.” Spreading fake news is awful, but it’s always puzzling when websites flag an article or image that is objectively true.

The media’s egregious manipulation today is over a post author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza made regarding Jen Psaki, Biden’s pick for press secretary. She’s a veteran of the Obama era and was once photographed wearing a pink hammer and sickle hat. D’Souza merely shared a screenshot with the photo, detailing her beside Russia’s Foreign Minister.

The post was flagged by Facebook and rated as “missing context.” What was the missing context that The Hill felt it so deeply needed? It was a gift from the Russian foreign minister.

D’Souza complained this is a flag on his account. According to Facebook, “Pages and websites that repeatedly share misinformation rated False or Altered will have some restrictions, including having their distribution reduced. They may also have their ability to monetize and advertise removed, and their ability to register as a news Page removed for a given time period.”

It should have been rated as true, and the context could have been explained in the article. The truth is, fact-checkers weaponize the truth and make editorial decisions based on political ideology.

For example, Trump was dinged by NBC News for claiming Hillary Clinton “acid-washed” her emails. They rated it false because they chose to take Trump’s words literally as a chemical. They did admit Clinton used a program called “Bleachbit” to wipe her servers.

NBC News and other media outlets were much kinder to Clinton and to Joe Biden. When Trump claimed at the debates that Biden wants to ban fracking, they said: “This well-worn attack against Biden is not true, although Biden’s position on the issue is complicated.”

Why is it complicated? Because Biden has repeatedly stated on the campaign trail that he wanted to get rid of not only fracking but all fossil fuels. Journalists said, “Biden has repeatedly said he will not ban fracking; the policies he has released only call for no new fracking on federal lands.”

Some might call this legal restriction a “ban.”

Jen Psaki wore a pink sickle and hammer hat. That’s 100% true. No one who stated that truth on Facebook should have to face potential penalties for stating a fact.