'It's highly immoral to censor users with vaccine concerns': Facebook whistleblower reveals himself and says he has been suspended by the tech giant after leaking internal documents exposing its 'vaccine hesitancy' censorship campaign
The Facebook whistleblower who leaked internal documents exposing the tech giant's 'vaccine hesitancy' censorship campaign has identified himself and spoke out about his experiences in the aftermath.
Morgan Kahmann appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight and said he decided to come forward because he believed it was 'highly immoral' that Facebook is allegedly censoring the content of its users without their knowledge.
Kahmann had initially come forward anonymously to Project Veritas with leaked documents allegedly showing that the company was testing a 'beta' version of the algorithm to target anti-vaxxers.
The data center technician alleged to Carlson that posts that went 'outside of the realm' of promoting vaccines is considered 'vaccine hesitancy' by Facebook's algorithms.
'They're afraid of what people might conclude if they see that other people are having negative side effects. They think that this is going to drive up vaccine hesitancy among the population and they see that as something that they have to combat,' Kahmann said.
Morgan Kahmann appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight and said he decided to come forward because he believed it was 'highly immoral' that Facebook is allegedly censoring the content of its users without their knowledge
James O'Keefe, the head of Project Veritas, interviewed an anonymous whistleblower who claimed to provide documents showing that Facebook was demoting or removing content from those who expressed skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine
O'Keefe (above) appeared on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News on Monday to break the story
Kahmann, who said he has since been suspended from the company, told Carlson that Facebook's alleged actions went against his 'moral compass.'
'The users at Facebook are not aware that this is going on and if you're using Facebook or a social platform and they're censoring the content of your comments unbeknownst to you, I think that's highly immoral,' he said.
Kahmann told Carlson that Facebook managers ordered him to stop working and escorted him to his car after collecting his equipment and his access badge.
He claims that he was told an 'investigatory meeting' would be scheduled with him that was canceled.
Kahmann said that that the consequences he faced 'don't really weigh much' when it comes to having to live with himself.
'I saw these documents and I had to opportunity to, you know, show the public this and what's going on behind the scenes and I didn't do it, and so I wouldn't be able to live with myself after that,' he said.
Kahmann and another Facebook employee came forward with their leaked documents on Monday, alleging that the social network is censoring skeptics of the COVID-19 vaccine by demoting user comments by way of an algorithm that calculates a 'vaccine hesitancy score.'
The documents purport to show that the beta version was being tested on 1.5 per cent of some 3.8 billion users of Facebook and its subsidiary, Instagram, around the world.
'Based on that VH score, we will demote or leave the comment alone depending on the content within the comment,' one of the whistleblowers told Project Veritas.
In a statement to Project Veritas, a spokesman said: 'We proactively announced this policy on our company blog and also updated our help center with this information.'
Project Veritas says it obtained the purportedly leaked documents from the whistleblowers.
The title of the document reads 'Vaccine Hesitancy Comment Demotion.'
In its 'executive summary' section, it states that the goal is to 'drastically reduce user exposure to vaccine hesitancy (VH) in comments.'
The document states that 'reducing the visibility of these comments represents another significant opportunity for us to remove barriers to vaccination that users on the platform may potentially encounter.'
Project Veritas unveiled documents it claims to have obtained from the whistleblowers. The title of the document reads 'Vaccine Hesitancy Comment Demotion.' In its 'executive summary' section, it states that the goal is to 'drastically reduce user exposure to vaccine hesitancy (VH) in comments.'
The company documents recommend 'action mapping' which involves either demoting or outright removing comments depending on the severity of the violation, according to Project Veritas
Facebook's aim is to 'decrease in other engagement of VH comments including crate, likes, reports [and] replies.'
'The narrative [is] get the vaccine, the vaccine is good for you, everyone should get it,' the documents state.
'If you don't, you will be singled out as an enemy of society.'
One whistleblower told O'Keefe that Facebook wants to 'build a community where everyone complies - not where people can have an open discourse and dialogue about the most personal and private and intimate decisions.'
'It doesn't match the narrative,' the whistleblower said.
'The narrative being, get the vaccine, the vaccine is good for you. Everyone should get it.
'And if you don't, you will be singled out.'
The system set up by the social network ranks users into tiers that grade comments based on the degree to which they are aimed at dissuading others from getting inoculated, according to Project Veritas.
'Tier 0' is assigned to any comments that 'coordinate harm' by 'promoting interference with the administration of a vaccine, including an event, group, page, account, etc dedicated to this purpose.'
That tier is also assigned to any comment that 'advocates' or 'promotes' that 'others not get a vaccine.'
'Tier 1' is for any comments that express 'alarmism and criticism' of the vaccines, including 'disparaging others on the basis of their choice to vaccinate.'
'T1' is also assigned to comments that 'suggest or imply that vaccines are unsafe, ineffective, sacrilegious, or irrelevant.'
'Tier 2' comments are those that offer 'indirect discouragement' against taking the vaccine by speculating on 'unproven or severe side effects or death.'
The company documents recommend 'action mapping' which involves either demoting or outright removing comments depending on the severity of the violation, according to Project Veritas.
'What's remarkable about these private documents that Facebook has not wanted you to see until tonight is that 'Tier 2' [violation] says even if the facts are true that you will be targeted and demoted - your comments will be targeted and demoted,' O'Keefe told Fox News.
'They don't want you to know that they are doing this. And this is the town square as you all know. We are trying to retake our town square,' he said.
'They are demoting your comments and de-boosting you on Facebook without you knowing that they are doing that.
'And they are obviously terrified of this report because they are responding to Project Veritas before they would attack us or ignore us.
'There is more to come.'
On its company blog, Facebook acknowledges that it reduces the visibility of content that may not violate company policy but does 'discourage someone from getting vaccinated.'
In March, Facebook announced that it would be adding informational labels to posts about vaccines as it expands efforts to counter COVID-19-related misinformation flourishing on its platforms.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post that labels will contain 'credible information' about the vaccines from the World Health Organization.
They will be in English and five other languages, with more languages added in coming weeks.
'For example, we're adding a label on posts that discuss the safety of COVID-19 vaccines that notes COVID-19 vaccines go through tests for safety and effectiveness before they're approved,' Zuckerberg said.
The social network also added a tool to help get users vaccinated by connecting them to information about where and when they can get their shot.
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May 28, 2021
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