WATCH: Diamond & Silk Testify Before Congress And All Hell Breaks Loose
"If the shoe was on the other foot and Mark Zuckerberg was a conservative and we were liberals, all fences and all chains would have broke loose."
On Thursday, social media sensations known as Diamond and Silk appeared before Congress to testify about alleged censorship and discrimination practiced by Facebook, and all hell broke loose.
In one tense exchange, the two women went toe-to-toe with Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, who dismissed the women's concerns and slammed them for "bashing Facebook" while making "a ton of money" on the platform.
Diamond and Silk refuted the claim and said they were merely bringing the issue of censorship of conservatives "to the light" and had not in fact made a ton of money because of said censorship. The women claim they were effectively demonetized for six months.
"You still selling merchandise," contended Rep. Johnson.
The women then went off on the congressman, suggesting his indifference over the issue was rooted in partisanship. If they were liberal and Facebook had a conservative bias, they suggested, there would be hell to pay.
"Let me say this, here" started Diamond, whose real name is Lynette Hardaway. "If the shoe was on the other foot and Mark Zuckerberg was a conservative and we were liberals, all fences and all chains would have broke loose. You know it, and I know it. But what I find appalling is that these Democrats don't want to take up for our voice."
"We are African-American women. If illegal aliens can come over here and build businesses, why can't we?" Diamond added, after plugging their page on Facebook. "You don't have a right to silence my voice!" she said.
When Mr. Johnson again alluded to the fact that these women were already making enough money and seemingly brushing off the alleged censorship, Diamond scolded him for "shaming" them for making money.
"Rather than diamonds, you're seeking money," said Johnson.
"Well, you know what, if Facebook is a platform for you to make money, then so be it. Everybody else do it," Diamond retorted. "And don't make us feel guilty because we and other people that's built their brand page want to make money. We've spent plenty of money!"
WATCH:
As reported by CBN News, the women slammed Facebook for censorship in a prepared statement that read: "Facebook along with other social media sites have taken aggressive actions to silence conservative voices such as ourselves by deliberately restricting and weaponizing our page with algorithms that censored and suppress our free speech...We've also noticed how someone with a liberal point of view that spewed hate against the President can garner up to 19 million views with only 539,000 followers, yet we have 1.2 million followers and only received 13,000 views on our video."
WATCH the full testimony, below (the portions with Rep. Johnson start around 1:20):
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