Facebook apologized to the Todd Starnes Radio Show today after the program’s official fan page was targeted with a warning label.
Facebook users who searched for “Todd Starnes” or “Starnes Media Group” were directed to a warning.
“This search may be associated with dangerous content,” the headline read.
“This search may be associated with a dangerous conspiracy movement called QAnon,” the warning read. “Experts say QAnon and the violence it inspires are a significant risk to public safety.”
The Todd Starnes Show staff immediately appealed directly to Facebook – noting that the website’s content has never advocated violence or extremist positions.
“This was a very troubling development, especially since so many third-party fact checkers utilized by social media platforms are actually controlled by left-wing journalists,” Starnes said during his nationally-syndicated radio program.
Starnes Media Group received a prompt reply from Facebook along with an apology.
“This issue was due to a bug,” our Facebook contact told us. “When we first launched the Redirect Initiative for QAnon today, there was a glitch that caused people to see information about this topic when they searched for unrelated terms. We’ve paused this Redirect while we fix the issue.”
The Todd Starnes Radio Show was not the only conservative page that got caught up in the glitch. But we are glad it has been remedied.
When we first launched the Redirect Initiative for QAnon today there was a glitch that caused people to see information about this topic when they searched for unrelated terms. We’ve paused this Redirect while we fix the issue. https://t.co/YJb4E46BJf
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) October 21, 2020
Facebook just slapped me with a warning label accusing me of being a violent extremist and associated with QAnon. I stand with @realDonaldTrump as he fights back against Big Tech's disinformation campaign.
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) October 21, 2020