Friend,

Earlier this month, a Free Press-led coalition of more than 200 civil-society organizations, researchers and journalists sent a letter calling on leading social-media platforms to strengthen platform-integrity efforts and protect democratic elections worldwide.

We gave the companies until April 22 to respond and indicate whether they would adopt six common-sense steps to combat disinformation and protect democratic elections occuring worldwide. Eight out of twelve platforms responded to coalition demands, with four fringe platforms — Twitter, Discord, Rumble and Twitch — offering no substantive response. Those that did respond did not commit to adopting all six demands or provide a timeline for implementation.

It’s clear: Companies like Meta, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube STILL lack sufficient policies, practices, or human capital to address harms ahead of elections abroad and here in the United States.

But our pressure is working: Nearly all of the companies that responded promised to treat VIP (and prominent politician) accounts the same as others and to moderate content in Spanish and other non-English languages.

The bottom line? Actions speak louder than words, and Free Press Action will be tracking these companies to hold them accountable to these and other commitments.

That's where you come in, friend: No matter the amount, your first gift will have a real impact on our work to hold Big Tech accountable. Become a Free Press Action donor ahead of a critical end-of-month deadline to sustain this work in the weeks and months ahead.

As our Big Tech Backslide report revealed, tech companies talked a big game following the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Leading up to the 2022 midterm elections, they promised users, civil-society groups and governments that they would safeguard election integrity on their platforms.

We exposed a notable gap between what the companies say they will do and what they actually do in practice. In 2023, the largest social-media companies deprioritized essential trust and safety protections and retreated from several earlier pledges to do more.

Without safeguards in place to fight disinformation, hate, AI-generated deepfake videos and much more, voters won’t have the accurate information they need and deserve to make informed decisions — or even access the correct polling location.

Our democracy hangs in the balance and we can’t let Big Tech off the hook for its failures to protect us. Make your very first gift of any amount by midnight tonight to help us fight disinformation with everything we've got.

Thank you so much for your support,

All of us at Free Press Action

P.S. Big Tech executives like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have made reckless decisions to maximize their profits and minimize their accountability for rooting out disinformation. Fuel our fight for real action — not empty promises — with a donation by the end of the month.