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Comment by wolverine876 | Hacker News Reader

> people of certain political leanings have seen multiple stories "fact-checked" by Facebook/Twitter/Google as false and suppressed turn out to be true or partially true months down the line.

Nothing is perfect, but what are you referring to specifically?

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The Hunter Biden laptop story comes to mind. Twitter was even blocking DMs with a link to the story, but it turned out that what was in it was true, even if it was inconsequential. I also remember seeing a Facebook ad that had a video of Biden saying he was going to end fracking, but since his campaign's official stance was that they weren't going end it, the ad was removed for false information.

Can you provide some basis for saying it's true? That is not my understanding, but I'm always interested in learning more.

There is no real doubt that the contents found on Hunter Biden's laptop are authentic. He hasn't denied any of it, nor has any evidence of falsification been found.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunter-biden-laptop-reports-int...

But the whole thing was a big nothingburger.

> There is no real doubt that the contents found on Hunter Biden's laptop are authentic.

Right now, there is a lot of doubt: All I have is some words typed by someone on the Internet.

> https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunter-biden-laptop-reports-int...

That article barely discusses the laptop, and quotes Hunter Biden saying he didn't know if the proported laptop was even his. It says nothing about authenticity of the contents.

Politifact and COVID origin

Any basis for this? The origin is unknown, afaik.

Problem is and was stating ”lab origin” as a false narrative when we truly just don’t know.

Of course a Politifact that says ”we dont know” is useless and so they have to invent truths to be relevant.

Not done by a tech company, but here's an example of dubious fact checking:

@MSNBC Oct 9, 2016 FACT CHECK: Trump says Clinton "acid washed" her email server. She did not.

The Claim

Trump says Clinton 'acid washed' her email server.

The Truth

Clinton's team used an app called BleachBit; she did not use a corrosive chemical.

[0] https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/785299708730339328?lang=en

Except Trump actually thought she used chemicals to clean the server, so there's nothing wrong with this fact check.[0]

[0] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/10/donald-trump-see...

Edit: If you downvoted me, please explain why. I don't get it unless you care more about being on the right side than knowing the truth.

Early in 2020 alternative media discussions that COVID may have leaked from a lab were ruthlessly "fack-checked" and censored from social media for misinformation. Now that we know more these claims have become accepted as a very real possibility.

Were they censored? IIRC they were only labeled as "not fact checked" - which at the time was true.

It seems lots of emerging stories should carry that label.

COVID lab theory clams were rated false which means social media platforms throttle their visibility and organizations posting those claims were threatened with suspension.

As politi-facts put it:

"There is no evidence that the coronavirus was made in a lab. The overwhelming consensus among public health experts is that the virus evolved naturally."

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