Facebook to remove mentions of potential whistleblower’s name

Facebook on Friday said it will remove “any and all” mention of the potential whistleblower’s name, claiming any identifying posts and ads violate the platform’s policies against outing vulnerable activists.

Facebook’s decision comes days after several news outlets began printing the name of a man they believe to be the whistleblower who raised concerns about President Trump’s contacts with Ukraine, sparking a complicated reckoning among publishers over whether to share the name of someone whose identity is meant to be protected under federal law.

On Thursday, Facebook took down a spate of ads shared by conservative groups that included the alleged whistleblower’s name.

Nearly all mainstream news outlets have declined to print the name thus far, even as some GOP lawmakers engage in a public effort to publicize the person’s identity.

Facebook’s position: “Any mention of the potential whistleblower’s name violates our coordinating harm policy, which prohibits content ‘outing a witness, informant, or activist,'” a Facebook official told The Hill on Friday.

“We are removing any and all mentions of the potential whistleblower’s name and will revisit this decision should their name be widely published in the media or used by public figures in debate,” the official added.

The policy pertains to content posted directly to Facebook’s platform, the official confirmed, meaning the social media giant will remove posts from users that mention the name as well as articles with the name in the headline or first paragraph.

Twitter stands differently: Donald Trump Jr., President Trump’s eldest son, tweeted a link to a Breitbart article that named the alleged whistleblower this week.

Twitter in a statement to The Hill said it will remove posts that include “personally identifiable information” on the alleged whistleblower, such as their cell phone number or address, but it will keep up tweets that mention the sensitive name.