Young Americans for Liberty
Case #
3176

Facebook fact checks CNN clip posted by Young Americans for Liberty because of how viewers may misinterpret it: Young Americans for Liberty posted a short clip of CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen who claimed that cloth masks are ineffective. She was discussing the possibility of Mayor Bill De Blasio of New York canceling the City's New Year's Eve event. She said, "Don't wear a cloth mask. Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There is no place for them in light of Omicron." The video did not include the entire segment, only the previously mentioned quote which also served as the caption for the post. Facebook claimed that the post was "missing context." The accompanying Lead Stories article claimed users could misread the quote and believe Wen was claiming that all masks were ineffective when in fact she suggested 3 ply surgical masks for fully vaccinated people celebrating outdoors due to high volumes of people. However, the quoted portion posted by Young Americans for Liberty specified that she was referring to cloth masks, not all masks. Fact-checked posts lose exposure on Facebook feeds as they are negatively affected by the platform's algorithm. According to Facebook, users fail to click through a fact-check interstitial to see the post 95% of the time.

Click images to enlarge

Fact Check
Instagram
Fact Check
Instagram
Fact Check
Instagram
Fact Check
Facebook
Fact Check
Facebook
Fact Check
Instagram
Fact Check
Facebook
Fact Check
Facebook
Fact Check
Facebook