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We strongly encourage you to vote if you are able, and to check the status of your returned ballot online.
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Friend, we’re worried: Social-media companies are limiting public access to critical voting information ahead of Election Day.
In April, Free Press found that none of 12 major tech companies were adequately addressing political disinformation or had real, substantive plans to do so.1 Research from our ally Accountable Tech shows that since February, Meta has stopped fact-checking election-related lies and is suppressing useful political content, leading to a 65-percent drop in engagement.2
There are dangerous real-world consequences when social-media companies ditch policies designed to protect election integrity and combat disinformation. Will you make your very first donation to Free Press Action’s Democracy Watch Fund? Your gift will help us hold Big Tech accountable.
Here’s what we’re up against:
- TikTok just laid off hundreds of content moderators.3
- Meta has begun suppressing voter information, including useful content about the democratic process.4
- Twitter has continued to force Musk’s many election lies on users, whether they follow him or not.
- YouTube has entirely washed its hands of accountability, refusing to respond to repeated questions from Free Press, our research allies or investigative reporters.
Most voters will use social media this week to research candidates, find their polling place and see results as they come in — with many relying on these platforms as their main source for voting information. These companies have the expertise and resources to implement platform-integrity measures, but repeatedly show their true colors in terms of the policy and funding choices they make.
We're not backing down from our fight to push Big Tech to do the right thing. If you’re with us, please donate to our Democracy Watch Fund.
Thank you in advance for your support at this critical time,
Candace and the rest of us at Free Press Action
1. Democracy Deferred: Social-Media Companies’ Meager Commitments to Election Integrity in 2024, Free Press, April 25, 2024
2. Meta’s Political Content Limit Causes Steep Drop in Reach for Accounts, Accountable Tech, July 2024
3. “ByteDance's TikTok Cuts Hundreds of Jobs in Shift Towards AI Content Moderation,” Reuters, Oct. 11, 2024
4. “Don’t Say ‘Vote’: How Instagram Hides Your Political Posts,” The Washington Post, Oct. 16, 2024
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