In the days after the first Democratic presidential debate on October 13, 2015, supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders accused CNN of deleting material from its Facebook presence, including a debate poll and user comments. The debate was co-sponsored by CNN and Facebook.
Elite Daily reported on October 15, 2015, that Sanders supporters were claiming CNN was deleting pro-Sanders posts on its Facebook page. It also reported that the supporters said a poll had been removed entirely.
The poll at the center of the claim
According to Snopes, CNN had run a live poll on its Facebook page during the debate. The poll asked followers who they thought had won. Elite Daily described the results as showing online voters overwhelmingly picking Sanders.
Elite Daily noted that CNN’s own coverage declared Hillary Clinton the winner. It added that not every major media publication agreed with that assessment. Supporters read the gap between the poll and CNN’s editorial verdict as evidence that the network was hiding the poll results.
The claim spread quickly. PolitiFact’s archive lists a video that NowThis shared on social media on October 15, 2015. It said CNN had deleted an online poll showing Sanders won the debate.
What the fact-checkers found
Snopes published a fact check on October 18, 2015, and concluded that CNN had not deleted the poll. It said that while CNN’s editorial content did say Clinton won, the public poll that conflicted with it was left up. Snopes added that the poll was still viewable on CNN’s Facebook page when it wrote.
Snopes also offered a possible reason for the confusion. The poll had been featured on CNN’s Facebook page rather than on CNN’s website. Readers looking for it on the website would not have found it there.
The results reviewed do not include a CNN statement on the comment deletions. They also do not independently confirm which individual comments, if any, were removed from the network’s page.
Complaints to the FCC
The episode also produced formal complaints. The Hill later reviewed about 850 complaints filed with the Federal Communications Commission about the three major cable news networks during the campaign season. It found that one of the most common objections targeted CNN in the days after the first Democratic debate.
The Hill counted more than 160 complaints alleging CNN bias in favor of Clinton. It said they looked like a coordinated effort. It said the complaints pushed what it called a now-debunked story that CNN deleted favorable polling for Sanders.
The Hill reported that the claim also led to a petition and a website calling on people to complain. It also noted the limits of the FCC’s role. The agency cannot restrict content from cable programming the way it can with broadcast stations. It is also barred from censorship and from infringing on press freedom under the First Amendment.
FAQ
Did CNN delete the Facebook debate poll?
Snopes found that it did not. It said the poll was still available on CNN’s Facebook page as of its October 18, 2015 fact check.
Why did viewers think the poll disappeared?
Snopes suggested one reason. The poll had been placed on CNN’s Facebook page and not on CNN’s website. Visitors to the site would not have seen it there.