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Friend,
Facebook has officially given politicians free rein to spread lies and hate in political ads on its platform.
Under this extraordinarily reckless new policy, politicians like Donald Trump are free to undermine our elections, push conspiracy theories and promote white-nationalist propaganda without any consequences from Facebook.
And to what end? Could Trump and others get away with ads targeting people of color saying that the day of the election has changed? Or that they have to bring their passports with them to the polls?
Facebook says it cares about protecting our elections, but it’s profiting off of disseminating politicians’ lies — both in the form of ad revenue and our attention. Tell Mark Zuckerberg it’s unacceptable to give politicians free rein to lie and misinform the public.
When politicians speak, people listen. You can draw straight lines between the lies that Trump and other white supremacists are spreading via social-media platforms and the manifestos of mass shooters both domestically and across the globe.
Facebook’s lax attitude toward blatant misinformation and its willingness to appease Trump is a threat to the health and safety of people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ people and other marginalized communities — as well as our democracy.
What’s worse is that Facebook is making money off of hate and misinformation. In fact, according to a recent report, Facebook has made millions by promoting content from hate groups — including white-supremacist organizations.1
Facebook is profiting off of deception: Demand that Facebook stop giving politicians immunity to lie on its platform.
Thanks for all that you do—
Heather, Nilda, Carmen, Jessica and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. Trump is already exploiting this dangerous exemption by running more than $1 million of Facebook ads a week to push conspiracy theories designed to misinform voters and distract from the House’s impeachment inquiry. Tell Mark Zuckerberg to get on the right side of history and cut off Trump's pipeline of hate and propaganda.
1. “Facebook Is Making Millions by Promoting Hate Groups’ Content,” Sludge, Sept. 25, 2019
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