People For Member,
In a much-anticipated announcement yesterday, Facebook’s Oversight Board decided they would uphold the ban on former President Trump keeping him off the platform – for now.
Politico reported this week that removing Donald Trump’s constant lies from social media platforms has decreased his influence even among his staunchest supporters.[1] But the ban’s extension will only last for the next six months, after which point Facebook itself must decide whether Trump will be allowed to return or not.
Trump CANNOT be allowed back on the platform so he can incite violence and spread virulent lies that undermine our democracy.
More and more evidence has piled up that Big Tech has played a starring role in disseminating the most dangerous misinformation of our generation, from the Big Lie about voting fraud during the 2020 general election to all kinds of false claims about the coronavirus pandemic and its vaccines. We cannot allow Big Tech to make these decisions on their own any longer: it’s time for real regulation.
Facebook and other Big Tech companies like Twitter have been seeking to avoid responsibility for the role they have played in sowing misinformation for over a decade. Now that we’ve seen the concrete harm these companies’ dereliction of duty can and will do, particularly in the wake of four years of Trump’s brazen disregard for reality, we need Congress and the Biden administration to act – and to act decisively.
Twitter has made more of an effort than Facebook to curb the violent rhetoric and extremism that runs rampant on its platform, but it’s far from enough. We need the government to come up with universal regulations for all Big Tech companies to follow – and we need it to happen before the erosion of trust in our democracy becomes insurmountable.
Please sign the petition today. >>
Thank you for all that you do.
In community,
Sarah, Digital Campaigns Associate
[1] “The Facebook Ban Hurt Trump in Surprising Ways.” (Politico, 5/5/2021.)
[2] “Facebook tried to outsource its decision about Trump. The Oversight Board said not so fast.” (The Washington Post, 5/6/2021.)
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