by WorldTribune Staff, March 10, 2017
The president pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate said the Raleigh News & Observer prodded Facebook to censor reader comments on news stories he had posted.
“Today The News & Observer had Facebook delete hundreds of your comments on this page – just because they don’t like that we include our own opinions whenever we share links to their unaltered news stories,” state senate leader Phil Berger posted to Facebook on March 9.
“Facebook doesn’t enforce this policy on other pages – makes us wonder if they’re targeting us because of our conservative values. With Roy Cooper trying new shenanigans nearly every day – from directing his cabinet secretaries to break the law, to illegally attempting to withdraw our voter ID case from the U.S. Supreme Court, to appointing a former convicted felon to lead the ABC Commission – you’d think the N&O would have something better to do.”
The News & Observer reported that Berger’s office had altered headlines from North Carolina media that were posted to Berger’s official Facebook page. The headlines were posted above the news organizations’ original, unaltered stories, the report said.
Facebook spokesman Andy Stone was quoted by the News & Observer as saying the practice violates Facebook’s usage policy.