Facebook removed a video posted by President Donald Trump’s account that had twisted a viral video of two toddlers after one of the children’s parents lodged a copyright claim. The video had more than 4 million views by the time Facebook took it down.
The now-removed clip is a crude and misleading edit of a video that went viral last year which shows a Black child and a White child running to hug each other. The version posted to Trump’s account made it first appear as if the Black child was running away from the White child.
Jukin Media, a company that represents creators of videos including the parent who owns this video, said in a statement provided to CNN Business Friday afternoon, “Neither the video owner nor Jukin Media gave the President permission to post the video, and after our review, we believe that his unauthorized usage of the content is a clear example of copyright infringement without valid fair use or other defense.”
Jukin said in its statement that it had submitted a takedown request to Twitter (TWTR). As of Friday afternoon, the video remained on Twitter, which had no comment. Jukin did not confirm it had sent the takedown request to Facebook, but Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesperson, said “We received a copyright complaint from the rights holder of this video under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and have removed the post.”
The video was put on Trump’s Facebook account after he tweeted it Thursday night, the eve of Juneteenth, the oldest known holiday honoring the end of slavery in the United States.
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