Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have vowed to do a better job of taking false or misleading posts off their sites. This is especially true if the post comes from a verified accounts. Their results on this pledge have been mixed at best.
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On Sunday, Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise posted a video on his Twitter feed that was obviously doctored. While the site has marked the video as manipulated media, it has still yet to be pulled down.
Dave Wiegel, from the Washington Post, explained how the clip was manipulated. He tweeted, “There’s a clip here of Ady Barkan, who has ALS and speaks via voice assistance, asking Biden about ‘re-directing’ public safety funding. The clip alters the quote. It splices “for police” into it, using Barkan’s artificial voice.”
Barkan, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, also responded to Scalise’s video. He wrote, “These are not my words. I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts. You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain. Please remove this video immediately. You owe the entire disability community an apology.”
Scalise did respond to Barkan and doubled down on his post. The lawmaker wrote, “Twice in one interview Biden says ‘yes’ & ‘yes absolutely” to questions about ‘redirecting’ police funding. Dems & their partners in the media want to blame ‘editing’ to pretend this isn’t exactly what he believes.”
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey-based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com, and PoliticusUSA. An avid pet lover, he has been known to contribute to Pet Lifestyles Magazine. He enjoys sports, politics, technology, and spending time at the shore with his family.
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