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Friend — This week, we saw more progress in the fight against disinformation as Instagram barred Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the platform due to his lies about COVID-19 and vaccines1 — and Twitter permanently banned anti-Black serial disinformer Project Veritas.2
This progress is critical, but it still isn’t enough. With Facebook considering the reinstatement of Trump’s account, Spanish-language misinformation about the COVID vaccine proliferating on Facebook3 and platforms like YouTube still promoting violent white-supremacist content,4 we need to keep up the pressure on these companies and find new legislative and regulatory strategies to hold them accountable.
Will you donate today to fund the fight against hate and disinformation?
It’s disgraceful that it took the loss of so many lives — from the racial-justice protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the Capitol Police officers in Washington, D.C., to an unknown number of people lost to COVID-19 due to lies spread by Trump and his right-wing media cronies — for the urgency of this problem to be recognized.
Make no mistake: The actions that you and thousands of Free Press supporters have taken in our fight against disinformation laid the groundwork for the changes we are seeing today. The ban of Trump on Twitter. The suspension of the former president on Facebook and YouTube. The removal of Parler from the Google and Apple app stores, and from Amazon web-hosting services. All of this is thanks to your actions.
The fight against disinformation is a defining battle of our times and we are determined to keep our momentum going. Nothing short of our safety, health and democracy are at stake.
Please donate today to help us fight for truth — and against the forces of disinformation.
Thank you for everything you do for our movement.
In solidarity,
Candace, Lucia and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
P.S. Instagram did the right thing when it removed RFK Jr. from the platform over his repeated lies about COVID-19 and vaccines. But vaccine disinformation continues to flood both Instagram and Facebook, putting our collective efforts to end the pandemic at risk. Donate now to help us urge Facebook to stop profiting from content that puts people’s lives in danger.
1. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Barred from Instagram Over False Coronavirus Claims,” The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2021
2. “Twitter Suspends Right-Wing Activist Group Project Veritas, James O’Keefe,” The Daily Beast, Feb. 11, 2021
3. “Among Latino Immigrants, False Vaccine Claims Are Spreading as Fast as the Virus,” The Washington Post, Feb. 11, 2021
4. “YouTube Continues to Push Dangerous Videos to Users Susceptible to Extremism, White Supremacy, Report Finds,” USA Today, Feb. 12, 2021
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