The powers that be over at Facebook have decided to censor The Daily Citizen and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson over reporting on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on masks.
On October 12, The Daily Citizen published an article titled, “CDC Study Finds Vast Majority of Those Infected with COVID-19 ‘Always’ Wore Masks.”
The Federalist also covered the story with a nearly identical headline: “CDC Study Finds Overwhelming Majority Of People Getting Coronavirus Wore Masks.”
On his show Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson covered the news by making it his lead story for the evening. “The science comes interestingly from the CDC whose director has told you that masks were magic, more effective than vaccines,” Carlson said. “A new study has found that ‘among those who were infected, more than 70% reported that they had ‘always’ worn a mask.”
In its article, The Daily Citizen reported the study as news. Included in the article was this statement: “The study… seems to reinforce the notion that wearing face masks or cloth coverings does little to prevent a person from contracting the coronavirus, though it may still help reduce the transmission of the virus. The CDC currently claims that ‘cloth face coverings help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.’”
According to current statements from the CDC, this is factually true. On its website, the CDC states, “Masks help stop the spread of COVID-19 to others (emphasis added).”
In other words, wearing a mask will not prevent you from contracting the coronavirus from someone else. However, there is some evidence that if someone who has contracted COVID-19 wears a mask, it can reduce the transmission and the spread of the virus to other people.
Wearing a mask protects others, not yourself.
But for reporting on the study, Facebook has censored both The Daily Citizen and Tucker Carlson.
Currently Facebook has slapped a warning on The Daily Citizen’s post on the article and labeled it as “False Information” according to an “independent fact-checker.”
And yet, this so-called “fact check,” which Facebook links to, analyzes the claim that “More people who wear masks become sick with COVID-19 compared to non-mask wearers, therefore masks don’t work or are making us ill.”
The Daily Citizen never made such a claim. The article in question reiterated the position of the CDC that wearing a mask does not prevent the wearer from contracting the coronavirus.
In other words, Facebook fact checked The Daily Citizen for a fact that never appeared in its pages. Indeed, The Daily Citizen’s article originally stated that masks “may still help reduce the transmission of the virus.”
Additionally, it seems the CDC has been the one to change its tune.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in September, “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.”
In other words, he suggests, “If I wear a mask, I’m protected from COVID.”
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night took issue with this claim, as did an official CDC spokesperson.
“Today, we learned that Facebook is calling our reporting ‘partly false.’ We quoted the CDC! They restricted the distribution of the post to prevent people from seeing it,” Carlson said.
Facebook has done the same to The Daily Citizen and there is no recourse that can be taken or appeal that can be made.
Carlson then relayed on his show a statement he had received from the CDC:
“A spokesman for the CDC said our coverage was misleading… [but] the spokesman said this, ‘At no time has CDC guidance suggested that masks were intended to protect the wearers.’ Huh? At no time has the CDC suggested that masks were intended to protect the people who wear masks. That’s what they said tonight… That would be news to the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield.”
Ironically, the statement from the CDC that, “at no time has CDC guidance suggested that masks were intended to protect the wearers,” was included in the fact-check of The Daily Citizen’s article, even though this is the point that the article made.
To be clear, The Daily Citizen is not against masking and encourages all readers to follow the recommended guidelines and mandates from their local health authorities and the CDC. We’re covering the story because we believe this information is of relevance to both individuals and families.
Yet, it’s scary when big tech giants label factual news with a scarlet letter. When big companies, largely run by liberals decide to take aim at conservative voices, there’s little that can stop them.
Photo is from Shutterstock.
Related Article:
CDC Study Finds Vast Majority of Those Infected with COVID-19 ‘Always’ Wore Masks
You can follow this author on Twitter @MettlerZachary
