Facebook has ‘interfered’ with US elections 39 times since 2008: study

Facebook has "interfered" with elections in the United States at least 39 times since 2008, according to a study by the Media Research Center.

Last month, MRC Free Speech America researchers found that Google "interfered" with elections in the United States 41 times over the last 16 years. The team then set its sights onto Facebook and concluded that although Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to believe in free speech, his company’s actions prove otherwise. 

"Like Google, Facebook has an extensive history of interfering in U.S. elections. But it’s not completely fair to compare the two companies. I believe some part of Mark Zuckerberg believes in free speech. Google management clearly does not. But regardless of what Mr. Zuckerberg believes, his company’s policies and practices have resulted in a great deal of censorship that always seems to target the same side of the political spectrum, and it needs to stop," Media Research Center founder and President Brent Bozell told Fox News Digital. 

GOOGLE HAS ‘INTERFERED’ WITH ELECTIONS 41 TIMES OVER THE LAST 16 YEARS, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER SAYS

MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider and editor Gabriela Pariseau, who conducted the study, wrote a 10,000-word breakdown of the findings. 

"Zuckerberg and his company have a complicated relationship with free speech. The Meta CEO has repeatedly made decisive statements in support of freedom of speech that have condemned fact checking, Big Tech election interference and political censorship, and yet his platform participates in all three," Schneider and Pariseau wrote. 

"It seems Meta  -- now Facebook’s parent company -- has consistently found itself caught between doing the bidding of the left, which claims to prioritize keeping the internet free from so-called misinformation at all costs, and placating the right, which prioritizes freedom of speech as the cornerstone of representational democracy," they continued before diving into examples. 

MRC Free Speech America said Facebook has "censored" 2024 presidential candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and 2022 Senate and congressional candidates. In 2021, Facebook "deleted Virginia gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase’s account," and it "cranked up its censorship apparatus with special focus on Donald Trump" and "shuttered political advertising one week before the election" in 2020, according to the MRC. 

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Schneider and Pariseau wrote that Facebook’s "infamous censorship" of then-President Trump included multiple campaign ads and numerous anti-Biden-Harris ads ahead of Election Day. 

Facebook also "censored various pro-life candidates" including Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., in 2016, and suspended "numerous pro-Trump pages and pro-Bernie Sanders groups" in 2016, according to the MRC. 

"It also artificially elevated liberal news in its Trending News section while blacklisting popular conservatives like Ted Cruz," Schneider and Pariseau wrote. 

In 2012, Facebook suspended a veterans PAC for a meme drawing attention to the attack on Benghazi, according to the MRC, which concluded was a benefit to then-President Obama. 

"On at least three occasions, Facebook/Zuckerberg voiced support for free speech online, but after the remarks, the Big Tech platform went in the opposite direction," Schneider and Pariseau wrote, noting that the high-powered Zuckerberg insisted in 2019 that "free expression" should be prioritized over "political outcomes." 

"But following a series of so-called ‘civil rights’ audits conducted by the left, COO Sheryl Sandberg praised the leftist recommendations and committed to ‘put more of their proposals into practice,’ which she did," Schneider and Pariseau wrote.

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MRC Free Speech America offered recommendations to combat election interference. The conservative watchdog believes House Speaker Johnson "should direct relevant committees and committee chairmen to investigate Facebook for interfering in elections," "state legislatures should ensure that Big Tech cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination" and "state attorneys general and state secretaries of state should take appropriate action to enforce state election laws as it relates to Facebook’s election interference."

The group also called for Facebook to "establish a bipartisan, blue ribbon commission to address the election interference and censorship issues outlined" in the report "in the spirit of openness and transparency."

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

"Facebook was just as bad as Google in the 2020 presidential election. We see some signs that Facebook might be pulling back from its massive censorship efforts. As Google's election interference is now on the rise, it would be a welcome change if Facebook truly followed its CEO's vision for keeping the company out of the electioneering business," Schneider told Fox News Digital.