Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Iran's IRGC: Parts and equipment used to manufacture Mossad drones were found in the Parand area of Tehran
Syrian sources: Armed groups attacked the village of al-Surah al-Kabira, at the northern entrance to Sweida Governorate, from three directions
Hezbollah says it is keen on Syria's security and stability, as well as the safety of its people
Hezbollah confirms that it has no presence or activity in Syria and has no connection to any incidents there
Hezbollah categorically denies the Syrian Interior Ministry's statement regarding allegations that one of the detainees in Homs Governorate is linked to the group
Ahmadian to bin Zayed: Ensuring the security of the Gulf and its neighboring states requires active participation and cooperation among regional countries
Ahmadian to bin Zayed: If the security of any country is threatened externally, the entire region will face challenges
Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, held a phone call with UAE counterpart Tahnoun bin Zayed to discuss recent developments
Al Mayadeen’s reporter in Gaza: Nearly 20 Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a tent sheltering forcibly displaced civilians in al-Qadisiyah, west of Khan Younis
The Al-Qassam Brigades targeted an enemy command and control site in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, with mortar shells

Here's why Facebook is censoring Hersh’s NordStream report

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Responsible Statecraft
  • 25 Apr 2023 00:37
  • 3 Shares
3 Min Read

Facebook claims Seymour Hersh's piece, which holds the US accountable for blowing up NordStream pipelines, allows other stories with proven dubious claims on its platform.

  • x
  • Damage to the Nord stream pipelines sent gas bubbling to the surface of the Baltic Sea (Reuters)
    Damage to the Nord stream pipelines sent gas bubbling to the surface of the Baltic Sea (Reuters)

Facebook is currently deliberately preventing people from sharing Seymour Hersh's report on the suspected involvement of the United States in the attack on the Nordstream pipelines, a report by Responsible Statecraft highlighted.

As of Thursday, any attempt to share the Substack article from February 8 on Facebook where Hersh first detailed the accusation of anonymous sourcing will first be met with a prompt informing the user of "additional reporting" on the matter from the Norwegian fact-checking website Faktisk and cautioning that "pages and websites that repeatedly publish or share false news will see their overall distribution reduced and be restricted in other ways.”

If one chooses to "share anyway", Hersh's article is posted with a blurred background and the social networking site's "false information" designation. It was later unblurred and given the "partly false information" designation.

The report detailed that Facebook not only flagged the post as fake but also alerted users about the notice they'd added a few hours later, saying that the user had posted something that "includes information that independent fact-checkers said was partly false."

Facebook warned that "people who repeatedly share false information might have their posts moved lower in News Feed," implying that if a user continues to share the news that has been disputed by fact-checkers, they will suffer a reach throttling penalty.

  • A screenshot from Facebook
    A screenshot from Facebook

Related News

Biden's candidacy hinges on performance at upcoming debate, Hersh says

Hersh says US blocked Ukraine-Russia peace talks months ago

However, the Faktisk fact-check, which stands for "Actually" in Norwegian, relies mainly on open-source information, whose validity has recently been questioned.

The final nail in free speech

Unsurprisingly, Facebook posts supporting the alternative explanation put forth by the New York Times — that the attack was carried out by an unaffiliated "pro-Ukrainian group" — as well as those supporting the Die Zeit report — that the pro-Ukrainian group consisted of six individuals who used a rented yacht — can both be posted without any problems.

Yet since their publication, both tales have faced criticism. Swedish investigators have reiterated their belief that the blast was carried out on a state level. Law enforcement officials told The Washington Post that they have doubts about the accuracy of the German report.

They specifically questioned the use of a yacht and the idea that a six-person crew could have carried out the operation, including manually laying the explosives. In further detail, the US officials who were promoting the Times' hypothesis stuffed it full of caveats and insisted there were "no firm conclusions" while avoiding discussing the pieces of evidence they relied on.

Reports that claim Russia destroyed its own pipeline have not received any pushback from Facebook, most notably a report by Bloomberg citing a German official who blamed Moscow for the blasts among others.

It is worth noting that Russia has constantly warned that media reports about the attacks on Russia's Nord Stream pipelines are part of a coordinated spread of disinformation and an attempt to push attention away from the real perpetrators.

The Kremlin has always wondered how US officials that media reports cite can assume anything about the attacks without an investigation.

Read next: Meta allows targeted hate speech, violence, but only against US rivals

  • Seymour Hersh
  • Nord Stream explosions
  • Facebook
  • Russia
  • US
  • Nord Stream 2
  • censorship

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemeni air defenses repel substantial part of Israeli aggression

Yemeni air defenses confront Israeli aggression on Hodeidah

  • Politics
  • 7 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Trump announces Mexico, EU rariffs of 30%
US & Canada

Trump slaps trade partners, Mexico, EU, with 30% tariffs from Aug. 1

Deal struck to create new state of New Caledonia
Europe

France announces State of New Caledonia, except with a twist

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, center, inspects a live-fire shooting training in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, Thursday, July 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US demands allies' plans in event of Taiwan war erupting

Israeli settlers kill American-Palestinian visiting West Bank
Palestine

Israeli settlers kill American-Palestinian visiting West Bank

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS