Hi friend --

There’s something rotten on our social media feeds -- and it could end up shutting Democrats out of the Senate.

Facebook and Twitter haven’t told Democrats how the social media companies plan to fight misinformation ahead of the Georgia runoffs (the races that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the upper house under Joe Biden). We’re going to take that to mean the two companies plan on doing even less now to fight voter misinformation than they did in the lead-up to the presidential election -- and that’s what’s got us so worried.

Don’t get us wrong -- we’re glad these races are getting so much attention. Democrats are energized, mobilized, and activated, and we’re all doing what we can all over the country in order to help Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win their races and keep Mitch McConnell away from the Senate Majority Leader’s seat.

But, as Democratic senators recently said in a letter to the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter, “The runoff has already started: Georgians right now are registering to vote and registrars are beginning to mail absentee ballots. However, social media has been inundated with disinformation and smear campaigns designed to undermine the results of the general election and prevent a runoff, including a malign torrent of falsehoods from the President and his allies.”

Much of this misinformation is targeted toward Spanish-speakers, a key voting bloc in both GA races. False information about Joe Biden being a socialist was a big part of Trump claiming Miami-Dade County in Florida on election night -- and the same kind of lies could now be used against Democrats in Georgia to keep the Senate red in 2021.

What’s worse, Facebook has banned political ads that could correct that record even as the company lets misinformation run rampant -- as Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock’s communications director stated, “preventing campaigns from sharing crucial information about how to register to vote, sign up for an absentee ballot and how to ensure their vote counts amounts to voter suppression.”

We agree. And we want to fight back -- against the lies, the voter suppression, and the irresponsible behavior of Big Tech. We refuse to let social media CEOs with god complexes make money off of alt-right misinformation while our next president and our next Congress pays the price. We’re taking a side in this online information war, and we’re standing with the truth -- are you with us?

 

If so, we hope you’ll chip in what you can now. We hope you’ll support the kind of messaging that brings facts to voters, drives turnout among progressives, and counteracts the toxic storytelling of the far right. We have a lot of work to do to make up ground online. But we’re not stopping now -- not with so much on the line. Whatever you have to contribute would mean an enormous amount in our fight to keep our social media giants honest -- and turn Georgia’s Senate seats blue.

 

 

Thank you for giving. You’re taking exactly the action that’s needed at such a transitional moment for our country.

Thanks for seeing us through safely to the other side.

Progressive Majority

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