[ [link removed]- ]The text reads "Break up Big Tech, Advance Racial Justice." The graphic
displays monsters each with the logos of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and
Apple. These monsters are approaching a town with people.

John,

We have been putting pressure on Facebook to prioritize the protection of
Black people needing access to abortion services from bounty hunters
empowered by Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8). However, since the passing of SB8,
several exposés have come out confirming what we forewarned: Facebook’s
priorities lie with maintaining profits over the safety of Black
communities and democracy. 

Despite rules forbidding harassment or incitement to violence, Facebook’s
“cross-check” program, or XCheck, allowed Facebook to designate millions
of politicians, celebrities, and other powerful people as exempt from some
or all of its rules.^1 Donald Trump’s incitement for the January 6th
insurrection is one of many dangerous examples of how users abuse these
XCheck exemptions.^2 While Color Of Change has been among the first groups
to raise the alarm about these threats, documents show that Facebook’s
CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has actively resisted changes to make Facebook a
safer platform.^3 This failure to act has perpetuated a series of harms
against Black people, including the exacerbation of teen girls’ mental
health through the promotion of Instagram, the proliferation of vaccine
misinformation, the empowerment of troll farms targeting Black Americans,
and the denial of user control over targeted ads.^4-7

Your support has driven our ability to:

* Track Facebook’s failures to protect Black people
* Pressure Facebook’s leaders to prioritize the safety of Black people
* Arm Congress and regulators like the Federal Trade Commission with the
information they need to bring real legal oversight to Facebook 
* Keep you updated on Facebook’s misgivings 

In the past year alone, we have succeeded in kicking Donald Trump off
Facebook, pressuring Facebook to stop targeting children with predatory
behavioral advertising, and continuing to be a driving force of public
scrutiny of Facebook’s unsafe practices. This is built on our work over
the years that forced Facebook to undergo a civil rights audit, compelled
an unprecedented 1,200 business partners to withdraw millions of dollars
in advertising from Facebook through our “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign,
and pressured Facebook to both create a senior role to oversee civil
rights at the company and a dedicated team to study algorithmic racial
bias.^8-10[ [link removed]- ]CHIP IN $5 TO KEEP OUR WORK GOING

For the next year, we need your support to demand Congress to pass
antitrust legislation with a racial justice focus that limits Facebook and
other Big Tech companies’ monopoly power. Bad policies have led to
unwieldy monopolies across sectors, but we have the power to dismantle
them. 

A better future is on the horizon. Our team is energized and ready to
go—but we can't do this without you.

[ [link removed]- ]DONATE: $5

[ [link removed]- ]DONATE: $10

[ [link removed]- ]DONATE: $15

[ [link removed]- ]DONATE: $25

[ [link removed]- ]OTHER AMOUNT

Until justice is real,

—Jade Magnus Ogunnaike and the Color Of Change team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

 1. Jeff Horwitz, “Facebook says its rules apply to all. Company documents
reveal a secret elite that’s exempt,” The Wall Street Journal,
September 13, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 2. Craig Silverman, Ryan Mac, and Jane Lytyvenko, “Facebook stopped
employees from reading an internal report about its role in the
insurrection. You can read it here,” Buzzfeed, April 26, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 3. Keach Hagey and Jeff Horwitz, “Facebook tried to make its platform a
healthier place. It got angrier instead,” The Wall Street Journal,
September 15, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 4. Georgia Wells, Jeff Horwitz, and Deepa Seetharaman, “Facebook knows
Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show,” The Wall
Street Journal, September 14, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 5. Sam Schechner, Jeff Horwitz, and Emily Glazer, “How Facebook Hobbled
Mark Zuckerberg’s Bid to Get America Vaccinated,” The Wall Street
Journal, September 17, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 6. Karen Hao, “Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on
Facebook before 2020 election, internal report shows,” MIT Technology
Review, September 16, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 7. Madhumita Murgia, “Time to turn off Facebook’s digital fire hose,”
Financial Times, September 28, 2021,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 8. Stop Hate for Profit, [ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
 9. Shannon Bond, “Over 400 Advertisers Hit Pause On Facebook, Threatening
$70 Billion Juggernaut,” NPR, July 1, 2020,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-
10. Jessica Guynn, “Facebook backlash after audit: Civil rights leader
says Mark Zuckerberg’s power must be reined in,” USA Today, July 8,
2020,
[ [link removed]- ][link removed]-

 

 



This email was sent to [email protected].

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from Color Of Change again, click here to unsubscribe:
[link removed]-