Instagram slapped an odd fact-check on the White House Monday on a posted photo of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump standing at a Pearl Harbor Memorial, along with the caption “Remembering Pearl Harbor" with "President Donald J. Trump" written at the bottom of the graphic.
The simple photo was tweeted from the official White House account and included nothing but the photo and the Dec. 7 rememberance.
But inexplicably, Instagram threw a label on the post that reads: “Joe Biden is the projected winner of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. (Sources: Reuters, NEP/Edison, others.)”
So, @instagram put a warning/fact check on a Trump post paying tribute to Pearl Harbour victims. #RevokeSection230 pic.twitter.com/m8fyjAkLgZ
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) December 7, 2020
Which has exactly nothing at all to do with the White House’s post.
Instagram eventually took down the warning label after complaints began filling up social media, but that doesn’t really negate the facts: social media platforms have a bias that pervades common sense – even on the most innocent and innocuous things. They aren't free and fair platforms. They're editorial boards. And they should be legally treated as such.