By Tim Hains
Rep. Matt Gaetz questions Monika Bickert, head of global policy management for Facebook, about why a Facebook account called “Milkshakes Against The Republican Party” has not been banned after making multiple posts calling for the assassination of Republican congressmen.
“I brought it to your attention when I e-mailed it to you. And then, I brought it to your attention when I went to Facebook with Mr. Ratcliffe. We went to California. We went to your corporate headquarters,” Gaetz said about the posts. “I showed these posts to your executives. And the response I got from your executives is, well, we removed those specific posts, but we’re not going to remove the entire page.”
“So, I guess if a page hosts repeated content that threatens violence and that references the shooting of Republicans at a baseball game, why would you not remove the page?”
“How many times does a page have to encourage violence against Republican members of Congress at baseball practice before you will ban the page?”
REP. MATT GAETZ: Ms. Bickert. I’ve provided to you a screenshot I’ve taken from content that was published on Facebook from a page that is Milkshakes Against the Republican Party. There are two posts. Would you read the first one? And there is one naughty word there that you’re welcome to skip over.
Will you read it aloud?
MONIKA BICKERT, FACEBOOK: Congressman, this is a post Milkshakes Against the Republican Party. It has a picture and it says, “Parents in the waiting area for today’s school shooting in Florida.” And then it says, “You remember the shooting at the Republican baseball game? One of those should happen every week until those NRA,” and then their unpleasant words. And then there’s — I’m not sure if this is another post beneath it or not.
GAETZ: Yes, that’s a second post. Will you read that? That has no naughty words.
BICKERT: It says, “Dear Crazed Shooters, the GOP has frequent baseball practice. You really want to be remembered, that is how you do it. Signed, Americans tired of our politicians bathing in the blood of the innocent for a few million dollars from the terrorist organization NRA.”
GAETZ: Do these posts violate your terms of service?
BICKERT: Any call for violence violates our terms of service…
GAETZ: So, why is Milkshakes Against the Republican Party still a live page on your platform?
BICKERT: I can’t speak — I haven’t reviewed this page. I can’t speak to why any page is up or not up. But we can certainly follow-up…
GAETZ: So…
BICKERT: … with it.
GAETZ: … so a member of my staff provided these comments to Facebook. And we said based on our reading of your terms of service and, frankly, based on your testimony today, where you say we are committed to removing content that encourages real-world harm — based on that, this would be a facial violation.
But, I received back what I’ve provided to you. And the highlighted portion of — of Facebook’s message back to my staff includes, it doesnât go against one of our specific community standards.
So, you — do you see the tension between your public testimony today, your terms of service, and then your conduct when you are presented with violent calls to shoot people who are members of my party at baseball practice?
BICKERT: Congressmen, there’s no place for any calls for violence on Facebook. I will certainly follow-up after the hearing and make sure that we’re addressing content you bring to our attention in (inaudible)…
GAETZ: Thank you, yes. I mean, I — I brought it to your attention when I e-mailed it to you. And then, I brought it to your attention when I went to Facebook with Mr. Ratcliffe. We went to California. We went to your corporate headquarters.
I showed these posts to your executives. And the response I got from your executives is, well, we removed those specific posts, but we’re not going to remove the entire page.
So, I — I guess if a page hosts repeated content that threatens violence and that references the shooting of Republicans at a baseball game, why would you not remove the page?
BICKERT: Thank you, Congressman. OK. So, these posts were removed but the page has not been removed, is that…
GAETZ: Correct.
BICKERT: … correct? OK. So we remove pages, or groups or profiles when there is a certain threshold of violations that has been met. So — and this depends. If somebody, for instance posts an image of child sexual abuse imagery, their account will come down right away. But there are different thresholds depending on different violations. So, I can follow-up…
GAETZ: So — so…
BICKERT: … with you on that.
GAETZ: … Yes. How many times does a page have to encourage violence against Republican members of Congress at baseball practice before you will ban the page?
BICKERT: Congressman, I’m happy to look into this, and look at the page specifically and then come back to you with an answer.
GAETZ: You — you agree, this is a mistake, right?
BICKERT: The — these — the posts should not be on Facebook. I have to look at a specific page before — with my team, before we can…
GAETZ: Do you think that this page should be hosted on Facebook with these multiple calls for violence against people in my party?
BICKERT: Congressman, I personally have not seen the page on Facebook. But I will look into it with my team.
GAETZ: You’ve seen these posts though, right?
RASKIN: Will the chairman yield…
GAETZ: Yes, I’ll yield.
RASKIN: … for a sympathetic question? I — I’m — I’m agreeing with the chairman about this. And I think we arrived at the exact same place when we were talking about at what threshold does InfoWars have their page taken down after they repeatedly deny the historical reality of massacres of children in public schools?
And so, when you follow-up with it, and obviously you want to look into the specifics of the case, I would love it if you would follow-up also about Alex Jones and InfoWars.
If certain content, you’re saying has been taken down, when they are taunting the students from Parkland, but at what point does the whole page get taken down? And I agree, certainly, that the — that these posts should be taken down that the chairman’s talking about. I yield back.
GAETZ: I thank the gentleman and would concur with his sentiments. My time has expired. And seeing no further business before the committee, this concludes today’s hearing. Thank you to the distinguished witnesses for attending.
Without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or additional materials for the record. The hearing is adjourned.
You can watch the full hearing below:
