Even before TX SB8, Facebook’s failings have indicated that it’s too big and Congress must act by breaking up tech monopolies.

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.8-10CHIP 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.

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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, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/325334?t=11&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  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, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/303631?t=13&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  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, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/325335?t=15&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  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, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/325336?t=17&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  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, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/325337?t=19&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  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, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/325338?t=21&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  7. Madhumita Murgia, “Time to turn off Facebook’s digital fire hose,” Financial Times, September 28, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/325339?t=23&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  8. Stop Hate for Profit, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/254768?t=25&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  9. Shannon Bond, “Over 400 Advertisers Hit Pause On Facebook, Threatening $70 Billion Juggernaut,” NPR, July 1, 2020, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/311570?t=27&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.
  10. Jessica Guynn, “Facebook backlash after audit: Civil rights leader says Mark Zuckerberg’s power must be reined in,” USA Today, July 8, 2020, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/311571?t=29&akid=52184%2E4731121%2EHbFIT-.