Meta 'auto demotes' anti-Kamala Harris posts, Indian origin engineer admits on camera

An Indian-origin engineer has alleged that all anti-Kamala Harris posts are “demoted” across Meta-owned social media platforms. James O'Keefe recently shared an undercover video in which Jeevan Gyawali, a senior engineer at Meta, claimed that the tech company employs strategies to reduce the visibility of posts critical of the US vice president. The footage has since been making rounds on the internet, with Elon Musk sharing the video with the message, “Hmm.”

Does Meta demote anti-Kamala Harris posts?

The video shared by the NYT best-seller author was recorded during a hidden-camera interaction. In the now-viral footage, Gyawali can be seen explaining to an undercover O'Keefe Media Group journalist that Meta's algorithms and content moderation practices “automatically demote” posts that are critical of Harris without informing the platform's users.

“Say your uncle in Ohio said something about Kamala Harris is unfit to be a president because she doesn't have a child, that kind of s**t is automatically demoted,” Gyawali said. He went on to explain that “the person would not be notified” but would experience a decline in their post engagement and impressions.

Gyawali revealed that Meta's “Integrity Team” is behind it, as it is responsible for controlling the content shared on the platform through “civic classifiers,” a system that “shadowbans” posts without notifying the user who shared the post. The discussion implies that Meta actively moderates certain politically-charged posts, with Gyawali confirming that posts that include misinformation are “100% demoted.”

Another striking revelation that emerged from the 10-minute undercover interview was that Meta allegedly had specialised Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT). “There is a SWAT team that's already set up since April… just to think about all the scenarios of how the platform could be abused,” Gyawali said.

Upon being asked if Meta has “the ability to influence the outcome of the election?” Gyawali said, “Yes,” admitting Meta’s power to sway political outcomes. Moreover, when asked if Mark Zuckerberg supports Meta’s political influence and agenda to help the Democratic Party, Gyawali bluntly noted, “100%.”