Friends -- it’s Bill, Joe Biden’s Deputy Communications Director. I’m reaching out to you today because I know how important it is that we have a free and fair election this November.
Right now, Facebook isn’t doing its part to ensure that at all.
We called on Facebook -- in an open letter, co-signed by you, our supporters -- to change its policies by finally preventing rampant disinformation before it influences our election. Facebook responded, and I will spare you the details, because honestly, it didn’t even make sense. But here is the key takeaway:
Right now, Facebook is letting Donald Trump write the terms of what’s acceptable online in this election, and we won’t stand for it.
That’s why I’m coming back to you with our open letter to Facebook. Nearly 200,000 Biden for President supporters have signed on, but that doesn’t include you -- and I’m really hoping you can sign on today to help us pressure Facebook to do the right thing »
Signed Open Letter to Facebook? No, not yet!
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**All signatures on our open letter to Facebook will be proudly displayed on our website. Make sure you’re one of them!
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Here’s the letter again below so you can read it in full. I hope you’ll take a minute out of your day to look through it and sign your name.
Thank you,
Bill Russo
Deputy Communications Director
Biden for President
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SIGN OUR LETTER TO FACEBOOK:
Dear Mark Zuckerberg,
Over the past year, the Biden for President campaign has called on Facebook to meet the commitment the company made after 2016 -- to use its platform to improve American democracy rather than as a tool to spread disinformation that undermines our elections. The campaign has proposed meaningful ways to check disinformation on your platform and to limit the effect of false ads.
But Facebook has taken no meaningful action. It continues to allow Donald Trump to say anything -- and to pay to ensure that his wild claims reach millions of voters. SuperPACs and other dark money groups are following his example. Trump and his allies have used Facebook to spread fear and misleading information about voting, attempting to compromise the means of holding power to account: our voices and our ballot boxes.
So where do we go from here?
We have offered the following concrete recommendations to fix the problems in Facebook’s platform that pose a threat to free and fair elections.
We call for Facebook to proactively stem the tide of false information by no longer amplifying untrustworthy content and promptly fact-checking election-related material that goes viral.
We call for Facebook to stop allowing politicians to hide behind paid misinformation in the hope that the truth will catch up only after Election Day. There should be a two-week pre-election period during which all political advertisements must be fact-checked before they are permitted to run on Facebook.
And we call for clear rules -- applied to everyone, including Donald Trump -- that prohibit threatening behavior and lies about how to participate in the election.
Anything less will render Facebook a tool of misinformation that corrodes our democracy. Facebook has promised better. And American voters deserve better.
Right now, we’re less than 150 days to the election. The time for setting, testing, and implementing meaningful policy to protect our elections is running out.
Facebook -- do the right thing. Do your part and change your policies to ensure we have a fair election this November.
Sincerely,
[email protected]
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