Facebook admitted it made a mistake in censoring a photo of a bleeding Donald Trump on its platforms in the moments after the July 13 assassination attempt, saying Monday it was an "error" and apologizing "for the mistake."
Facebook said it was hunting down an altered image of the now iconic photo of Trump pumping his fist with blood streaming down his face. The doctored image showed Secret Service agents smiling, ostensibly happy that Trump was shot.
In its quest to find and remove that photo, however, Facebook also labeled a post by "End Wokeness," displaying the authentic photo, as misinformation and threatened to deplatform that account, the New York Post reported Monday.
"Yes, this was an error. This fact check was initially applied to a doctored photo showing the secret service agents smiling, and in some cases our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo. This has been fixed and we apologize for the mistake," Dani Lever, a spokesperson for Facebook's parent company, Meta, said in a post.
Meta's mea culpa came in response to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk's inquiry.
"This has been resolved. A 'false positive,'" Kirk posted to X.
The original image, snapped by an Associated Press photographer, came in the moments after Trump was shot in the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania. With Secret Service agents in formation around him to protect him, Trump rose and thrust his right fist in the air before being whisked away to safety.
Fact checking done by USA Today proved no agents were smiling, triggering efforts to remove the doctored images from Meta's platforms.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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