Dear MoveOn member,
The CEO of YouTube just announced that Donald Trump will be let back on the platform.1 Bloomberg News reports that Facebook is likely to lift Trump's ban as well, allowing him to once again push his lies and racist conspiracy theories all over the Internet.2
This is truly awful news—but we are ready to fight back.
We already know this is a battle we can win. During last year's presidential election, MoveOn hired a team of researchers and digital sleuths who tracked, exposed, and helped shut down white supremacist and far-right disinformation networks. Now, we need to prepare to fight back as soon as Trump re-emerges on social media.
But there's one big problem: Donations to MoveOn have dropped significantly since last year, and unless our members step up, we won't have the resources to take on the conspiracy theories and lies spread by Trump online at the scale it will surely require.
We're aiming to sign up 1,250 new monthly donors in the next 48 hours so we're able to fight back. Will you chip in $5 a month to make sure Trump's lies can't spread unchecked across social media?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
The exact timing of Trump's return to social media hasn't been announced, but YouTube's CEO says that his ban will be lifted when the "risk of violence has decreased."3 Meanwhile, the Facebook Oversight Board, a.k.a. the "Supreme Court of Facebook," is reportedly poised to let Trump back on Facebook and Instagram any day now.4
We all saw on January 6 how dangerous Trump's conspiracy theories can be, and Republicans continue to push the Big Lie that the election was stolen to justify the most sweeping attack on voting rights since Jim Crow.
After the insurrection, Trump was banned from social media, and the amount of disinformation on the internet immediately started to decline. The last thing we need now is Trump back on the internet pushing racist disinformation and inspiring violence, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly resurgent.
Meanwhile, after four years of resistance, donations to MoveOn and other progressive groups have fallen off significantly.
It's a recipe for disaster. Donald Trump comes back to social media, and progressives don't have the resources to fight back.
We know how to limit the damage of Trump's disinformation. We have to track it, call it out, and demand that the big social media networks shut it down. But it isn't cheap or easy. Disinformation spreads like wildfire on social media, and it will take an incredible amount of pressure to get Facebook, YouTube, and other social media companies to take action.
That's why we're asking you to start your monthly donation today, so that we're ready the minute Trump's social media ban is lifted and can keep fighting back against his conspiracy theories for as long as it takes. Will you chip in $5 a month?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Michael, Justin, Rahna, Ankur, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "YouTube will lift Trump suspension when 'risk of violence has decreased,' CEO says," CNET, March 4, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150682?t=6&akid=294269%2E40999114%2EL4tWLT
2. "Facebook's New Board Has Incentives to Bring Back Donald Trump," Bloomberg, March 23, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150687?t=8&akid=294269%2E40999114%2EL4tWLT
3. "YouTube will lift Trump suspension when 'risk of violence has decreased,' CEO says," CNET, March 4, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150682?t=10&akid=294269%2E40999114%2EL4tWLT
4. "Facebook's New Board Has Incentives to Bring Back Donald Trump," Bloomberg, March 23, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150687?t=12&akid=294269%2E40999114%2EL4tWLT
Want to support our work? With our nation ravaged by the pandemic and the cruelty and incompetence of the Trump administration, we need to take bold action to contain the spread of the virus, speed up the delivery of vaccines, and deliver real economic relief to families across the country. MoveOn is prepared to launch a massive, nationwide campaign to ensure Congress acts swiftly to deliver more emergency checks, extend unemployment benefits, ramp up our nation's vaccination program, and more. But we need your help.
Will you chip in to our campaign to ensure Congress acts boldly to overcome the pandemic and build back our economy?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to John xxxxxx on April 6, 2021. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. MoveOn's privacy policy was recently updated. To read our new privacy policy, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.