Conservative author and commentator Candace Owens announced she is filing a lawsuit against Facebook fact-checkers who flagged one of her posts as “misinformation.”
“It is time to fact-check the fact-checkers,” Owens said in a video posted to her Twitter account. “I’m going to put these suckers through discovery and figure out what the relationship it is that they have with Facebook.”
Guess what?! I am OFFICIALLY suing the “Fact-Checkers” who are really just activists. https://t.co/nvLBLZaQEH https://t.co/UGbJzMrMk0
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 6, 2020
Owens said one example of Facebook censorship was an opinion piece she shared on the coronavirus pandemic, which was initially posted by a doctor and “fact-checked” by one of the social media giant’s independent fact-checkers.
“Quite literally, a doctor gave his opinion about COVID-19, which I shared, and Facebook issued a strike on my account because they said only information that they agree with about COVID-19 … was acceptable,” Owens said.
That fact-checking strike against her led to her Facebook page being demonetized by the company.
“I decided that I was not going to give up and sit down,” Owens said. “The fact-checkers … they’re activists for the Left and shut down your speech if they don’t like it.”
Owens retained a pair of high-powered attorneys to file the suit, including the attorney who was part of former Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann’s legal team, Todd McMurtry.
The defendants listed include USA Today and Lead Stories Fact Checker, both of which partner with Facebook as third-party fact-checkers.
Owens launched a legal website in an effort to help raise funds for her legal battle.
“Our freedoms are being stripped away,” the website reads. “The overlords of Big Tech are determining what Americans can and cannot say, share, like, and post. Support our legal efforts today as we fight back against Facebook’s fact-checkers, confronting those who are suppressing free speech, thought, and expression across our great country.”
Facebook launched its third-party fact-checking operation after it was accused of not doing enough to stop the spread of fake news after the 2016 Election.
Facebook’s fact-checkers can give posts ratings of “false,” altered,” and “missing context,” which can lead to the company reducing distribution of content as a way of combating the spread of misinformation.
