A Republican congresswoman has accused Facebook of trying to 'silence' conservatives while allowing human smugglers and cartel...
A Republican congresswoman has accused Facebook of trying to 'silence' conservatives while allowing human smugglers and cartels to operate 'openly' on the platform.
Rep. Kat Cammack, a freshman legislator from Florida, made the allegations in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, sharing Facebook posts that advertise illegal border crossing services.
'Facebook's role in the crisis at the border is urgent and must be addressed immediately,' Cammack wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Fox News.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Facebook spokesperson insisted: 'We prohibit content that either offers or assists with human smuggling. We have removed the content highlighted to us that violates our policies.'
Cammack said that she found the Facebook posts advertising services to help migrants illegally cross the border through a simple search on her own.
One post advertises a 'Safe crossing to the UNITED STATES' for $6,000. 'Through the Piedras Negras border to get to SAN ANTONIO More details via telephone,' the ad reads in Spanish.
Posts on Facebook advertise services to cross the border into San Antonio (left) and direct transport from Guatemala to Houston (right), charging thousands of dollars
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seen above. A Facebook spokesman insisted: 'We prohibit content that either offers or assists with human smuggling.'
Another post advertises a $9,300 all-inclusive service that includes a bus pickup in Guatemala and direct transport to Houston.
'Even more troubling was the fact that as people visited these pages, myself included, that Facebook then provided additional posts and pages of related illegal content,' Cammack wrote in her letter.
'It is unacceptable for an American company to allow a criminal enterprise to use your platform to freely encourage and facilitate criminal activity,' she wrote.
In the letter, Cammack reiterated the complaint, frequently made by conservatives, that 'Facebook and other social media platforms actively silence conservatives and 'shadow ban' individuals with views that are not supported by employees of your company.'
Rep. Kat Cammack, a freshman legislator from Florida, made the allegations in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday
Lawmakers across the political spectrum have raised concerns about the power of Facebook and other social media companies, many calling for new regulations and some calling for breakups of Big Tech.
Last month, Cammack joined a Republican Congressional delegation to the border near McAllen, Texas amid a massive surge in illegal border crossings that has overwhelmed the Biden administration.
'This is a humanitarian crisis,' Cammack told Fox News after the visit. 'I can't even in good conscience call President Biden president, I have to call him 'trafficker-in-chief' because these kids are being trafficked.'
In March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 172,331 encounters with migrants attempting to cross the southern border illegally, a 400 percent increase from last year and 66 percent bump from the same month in 2019.
Cammack has expressed a hard line on the border crisis, previously calling Biden 'trafficker in chief' after visiting the border in Texas last month
Migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma, Texas on Wednesday
March also saw the most migrant children crossing the border in history, with 18,890 unaccompanied minors being taken into cramped shelters. The previous record was around 11,000 back in May 2019.
'When you have 20,000 children in custody and the border patrol agents are stretched thin to the max and we're watching cartel members taunt our border patrol agents as they're sending these children under six years old across the river by themselves, this is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion,' Cammack said last month.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday she will travel to Guatemala and Mexico next month, after being tasked to spearhead the Biden administration's efforts to deal with the southern border surge.