Is Facebook removing video of Tom Cotton criticizing China? Fact Check

Claims on social media assert that Facebook is actively removing a video where US senator Tom Cotton criticizes China on their handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

FALSE

The video allegedly being removed by Facebook features Senator Tom Cotton – a long-time critic of China – during a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing on January 30th, who makes a number of derogatory claims about China and the way they handled the coronavirus outbreak.

Such claims included floating the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus may have been made in a “super laboratory”, despite there being no evidence to support that conclusion, with most experts – from within China and outside China – noting the most likely explanation is the virus crossing from animals to humans.

The Chinese Ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, subsequently slammed Cotton’s remarks in a CBS interview…

It’s very harmful, it’s very dangerous to stir up suspicion, rumors and spread them among the people … For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing is that it will fan up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus.”

Consequently, clips of Cotton’s Senate speech soon found themselves circulating on social media, especially in conspiracy-inclined circles. And soon after that, the assertion that Facebook in particular were actively trying to remove videos of Senator Tom Cotton making those claims began to surface.

Ladies watch this before FB bans it … dont put it publicly on your wall either as apparently people who’ve put it on their FB walls have been banned and the video removed but you can send it in messenger

Floating the false accusation that Facebook is trying to remove something in particular has long proved a successful modus operandi utilised by social media users to convince other users to share their content. It is also especially popular with more conspiracy inclined individuals who are looking to push a narrative that the “truth is being supressed”.

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In this case, it is easy enough to debunk the claim that Facebook is removing this video, simply by looking at how many videos of Tom Cotton making those claims during that Senate hearing exist on the Facebook platform. We found dozens and dozens of videos using a simple Facebook search, dating back to when Cotton first made his claims. Additionally, his speech has been reported on by a number of media outlets.

There is nothing to support the claim that Facebook is removing this video, and we rank the claim false.