Skip to main content
Tags: facebook | mark zuckerberg | diamond and silk | censorship

Lawmakers Question Zuckerberg About Vloggers Diamond & Silk

Lawmakers Question Zuckerberg About Vloggers Diamond & Silk
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

By    |   Thursday, 12 April 2018 08:28 AM EDT

During his testimony before the House Wednesday, lawmakers asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about Diamond and Silk, a duo of vloggers who had accused Facebook of censoring them for their political views, The Washington Post reported.

Lynette "Diamond" Hardaway and Rochelle "Silk" Richardson support President Donald Trump in video commentaries. They said someone on Facebook sent them a message censoring them, that said, "The Policy team has come to the conclusion that your content and your brand has been determined unsafe to the community," The Post reported.

"I’d like to show you right now a little picture here. You recognize these folks?" Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., asked Zuckerberg as a staffer displayed a poster-size photo of the pair.

"I’d like to point out that they’re African-American, and their content was deemed by your folks to be 'unsafe,'" Long said. Long then read a question from the vloggers for Zuckerberg. "'What is 'unsafe' about two black women supporting Donald J. Trump?'"

"Well, Congressman, there is nothing unsafe about that," Zuckerberg said. The CEO added that he would know more about the situation if he had not been preparing for the hearing regarding privacy on Facebook, the Post report said.

Other Republican lawmakers asked about Diamond and Silk during the hearings, The Post reported.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Tuesday said their situation showed "a pervasive pattern of political bias." Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Zuckerberg, "Diamond and Silk is not terrorism." Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, read a question from a constituent about the pair, The Post reported.

In response to Barton, Zuckerberg said that the Facebook team "made an enforcement error."

The pair first accused Facebook of wrongdoing on Friday night in a Facebook post to the duo’s 1.4 million followers, The Post reported.

A change to Facebook algorithms that has reduced engagement for publishers across all of Facebook could account for some of what the pair experienced; Diamond and Silk said on Friday that the platform was hiding notifications to their followers and showing their posts to fewer people, The Post reported.

The accusation from Diamond and Silk that they are being censored for their views comes in the context of a belief among some conservative-leaning online communities that Silicon Valley tech companies aim to censor them, The Post reported.

“The message they received last week was inaccurate and not reflective of the way we communicate with our community and the people who run Pages on our platform,” Facebook spokeswoman Sarah Pollack said in a statement, adding that they have contacted Diamond and Silk with more information, The Post reported Tuesday.

© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Politics
During his testimony before the House Wednesday, lawmakers asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about Diamond and Silk, a duo of vloggers who had accused Facebook of censoring them for their political views, The Washington Post reported.
facebook, mark zuckerberg, diamond and silk, censorship
431
2018-28-12
Thursday, 12 April 2018 08:28 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved