Facebook's accommodation of right-wing politicians allows them to conduct voter suppression and spread misinformation.

Mark Zuckerberg continues to let right-wing politicians spread lies, misinformation, and hatred on Facebook.    

Image with red background features Mark Zuckerberg with a blindfold over his eyes. Over the read background are words like "voter suppression," "lies," and "misinformation" to demonstrate the problems on Facebook that Zuckerberg ignores.

Tell Facebook to stop allowing politicians to spread lies and misinformation.   
  

TAKE ACTION
Dear John,  

Here we are again, demanding Mark Zuckerberg choose civil rights over allowing the spread of misinformation, outright lies, and hate speech on Facebook’s platforms. Even though Rashad and I met with him less than two weeks ago, Zuckerberg still refuses to institute civil rights protections that will protect Black people from harm and prevent the destruction of our democracy.1 

Most recently, Zuckerberg allowed politicians to break the rules and lie on Facebook about the upcoming election, leading millions of people to believe that mail-in ballots will result in voter fraud.2 These kinds of falsehoods spread like wildfire and are transparent attempts to suppress our votes. Too often, politicians get away with breaking Facebook’s rules because Zuckerberg continually allows accommodations for politicians that exclude them from following the same Facebook rules you and I must follow every day. With one of the most important elections of our time looming, we cannot afford for Zuckerberg to supercharge voter suppression by keeping up special rules for politicians. 

Tell Mark Zuckerberg to end special rules for politicians.  

This doesn’t just impact the spread of misinformation; it also harms Black people. In the 2016 election, for example, Facebook’s lax rules led to foreign interference that targeted Black social media users.3 Currently, these kinds of exceptions enable right-wing users to share information that violates civil rights laws and drives real-world violence toward Black people. In May, for example, Donald Trump threatened protestors through a Facebook post, saying “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”4 Donald Trump has also been continuously attacking voting by mail, sharing outrageous, false claims that mail-in ballots will lead to a ‘rigged election’ and ‘fraudulent’ voting.5        

Politicians should not be immune from the rules. Tell Facebook to end accommodations for politicians. 

We are less than five months away from the presidential election, and Facebook’s giant policy loopholes let politicians spread unchecked voter suppression, harassment, and lies. By not fact-checking politicians and allowing them to mislead the public regarding voting methods, Facebook is setting a dangerous precedent ahead of the 2020 election. These policies, which exempt politicians’ lies from the same community standards you and I must abide by, infect Facebook with injustice and inequality. 

End Facebook's special rules for politicians NOW.

Until justice is real, 
—Arisha, Rashad, Brandi, Jade, Johnny, Amanda, Marie, Evan, Imani, Eesha, Samantha, Jennette, Ciera, Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

  1. “Will Zuckerberg Dump Trump or continue to serve him?” The Guardian, July 17, 2020, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255849?t=9&akid=44286%2E4731121%2EqstXcz
  2. “‘Outright Lies:’ Voting Misinformation Flourishes on Facebook,” ProPublica, July 16, 2020, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255850?t=11&akid=44286%2E4731121%2EqstXcz
  3. “Russian 2016 Influence Operation Targeted African-Americans on Social Media,” The New York Times, December 17, 2018, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255851?t=13&akid=44286%2E4731121%2EqstXcz
  4. “The racist history of Trump’s ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’ tweet,” Vox, May 29, 2020, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255852?t=15&akid=44286%2E4731121%2EqstXcz
  5. “‘Outright Lies:’ Voting Misinformation Flourishes on Facebook,” ProPublica, July 16, 2020, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255850?t=17&akid=44286%2E4731121%2EqstXcz

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