Facebook is allowing politicians to lie on its platform.
[ [link removed] ][IMG]
Demand Facebook restore bans on political misinformation and hateful
messaging!
[ [link removed] ]Take Action
John,
Facebook just reopened the Pandora's box of voter suppression and
misinformation, giving Trump the green light to spread lies, hate, and
election misinformation on its platform. Under Facebook's extraordinarily
reckless new "Trump Exemption" policy, politicians' posts and
advertisements are exempt from the platform’s rules.^1
This change is already being exploited by the Trump campaign, which is
running more than $1 million of Facebook ads a week, pushing conspiracy
theories to deflect from Trump’s impeachment inquiry, and demonizing
migrant communities.
With the 2020 election cycle already in full swing, there is no room for
politicians’ misinformation and voter suppression efforts on the world’s
largest social media platform. The 2016 election already showed how
Facebook can be exploited to target Black voters for suppression and
promote white nationalist propaganda.^2,3 This exemption does nothing more
than give free license to Trump and the politicians with the most to gain
from silencing our voices to spread misinformation.
[ [link removed] ]Demand Facebook end the Trump exemption and restore bans on
misinformation and hate from politicians!
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in Congress last year, he
admitted he was at fault for not protecting Facebook users against fake
news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech. And just last
month, Color Of Change led dozens of advocates in the civil rights and
Black tech communities in a town hall convening with Facebook senior
leadership to address curbing misinformation and voter suppression on the
platform ahead of the 2020 elections.^4 Yet Facebook still made the
decision to enact this dangerous policy, which contradicts the commitments
the company has made to Congress and Color Of Change. Including recent
commitments Facebook made to Color Of Change and other civil rights
leaders at Civil Rights x Tech townhall late last month.
Facebook continues to pretend it is neutral in all this, but in the moral
arc of history, it will be considered critically responsible for the
normalization of politics that are harmful to Black people. As Trump
expands his misinformation machine, Facebook executives like Vice
President Nick Clegg continue to allow the company's powerful right-wing
staff to make the company's policies increasingly friendly toward Trump.
While Zuckerberg himself was just revealed to be secretly hosting
far-right peddlers of white nationalist propaganda and misinformation like
Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro in private, off-the-record dinners in his
homes.^5 This is no coincidence.
Facebook’s commitment to protecting Black voters and protecting our
elections is called into serious question when some of its most important
decision makers on election policy include former senior official in the
George W. Bush White House and Brett Kavanaugh supporter Joel Kaplan, as
well as former Rudy Giuliani staffer and Republican election consultant
Katie Harbath. Facebook’s lax attitude toward blatant misinformation and
its willingness to appease Trump are threats to our democracy and election
security.
[ [link removed] ]Demand Facebook end the Trump exemption and restore bans on
misinformation and hate from politicians!
Under the Trump exemption, Facebook will allow Trump and any other
politician to run ads misinforming Black voters about how and when they
can vote, promote blatant white nationalist propaganda, and use
fearmongering to push Black and migrant communities not to participate in
the critically important 2020 Census. By enacting this policy, Facebook is
not only denying that voter suppression is a problem on the platform but
also openly welcoming it.
The stakes are too high for the Trump exemption to stand. Politicians
cannot lie and misinform the public with impunity. If Facebook wants to
show the civil rights community that it is committed to fighting voter
suppression and election interference, it must immediately drop the Trump
exemption and ensure that all politicians follow the same rules as every
other user regarding content and advertisements.
[ [link removed] ]Demand that Facebook immediately restore the bans on hate and
misinformation from politicians!
Until justice is real,
Jade, Rashad, Arisha, Johnny, Amanda, Evan, Future, Eesha, Samantha,
Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
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References:
1. “Facebook Says Trump Can Lie in His Facebook Ads,” Popular
Information, October 3, 2019,
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2. “Did Fake News on Facebook Help Elect Trump? Here’s What We Know,” NPR,
April 11, 2018,
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3. “Russian Trolls Tried to Convince African Americans Not to Vote in
2016, US Senate Says,” CNBC, October 9, 2019,
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4. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Hears Concerns of Civil Rights Leaders but
Offers No Promises,” Gizmodo, September 26, 2019,
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5. “Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Private Meetings with Conservative Pundits,”,
Politico, October 14, 2010,
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.
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