Indivisibles,

Last night on 60 Minutes, a Facebook whistleblower (read: hero) named Frances Haugen revealed what most of us have suspected for a long time: Facebook knowingly amplifies hate, misinformation, and political unrest and hides what it knows from the public.

We thought we’d take this time, while Facebook has been down for hours (maybe it's up now though -- hard to tell), to give you a few of the highlights from the report and two things you can do right now to fight back.

First, the highlights:

• Facebook encourages polarizing content through its own algorithm. Political parties have been quoted in Facebook’s own research saying they know Facebook changed its algorithm and “know if [they] don’t publish angry, hateful, polarizing… content,” there’s less engagement.
• Facebook could be safer, but they’d make less money. From the interview: “Facebook has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they’ll click on less ads, they’ll make less money.” 
• Facebook was used to organize the January 6th insurrection. Prosecutors in cases involving some of the armed insurrectionists have cited Facebook posts as evidence: “photos of armed partisans and text including, ‘by bullet or ballot restoration of the republic is coming!’ Extremists used many platforms, but Facebook is a recurring theme.” 

In the words of Haugen, “That really feels like a betrayal of democracy to me.” 

She’s right. 

At the same time that Mark Zuckerberg fills our feeds with posts of him on sailboats and fencing -- all designed to make us like him more -- Facebook is allowing propaganda, false characterizations, intentionally misleading messages and outright lies that threaten our democracy (and even our lives). If you’ve read enough and want to chip in to fund Indivisible’s Truth Brigade program, which fights the kind of disinformation that spreads on Facebook, as well as supporting all of Indivisible’s work for a better world, click here.

Today, we wanted to tell you about what we’re doing about it and tell you how you can take action now to fight back. The truth is that we can effectively combat disinformation, despite the well-funded machines that drive it. They may have money, but we have truth, and we have people -- people who know other people. 

Why does that matter? People believe sources that they trust. When we share and amplify unified, factual messages to those who trust us (our friends and family), we can shift the narrative. And here at Indivisible, we’re doing it by the thousands through the Indivisible Truth Brigade (you can check out one of the many articles about our Truth Brigade program here).

How does the Truth Brigade work? Good question. Research shows that one of the best ways to counter disinformation is through interactions with real people in your network -- so thousands of volunteers are getting the training and the tools they need to shift the narratives in their own communities. We provide resources on best practices, from how to structure messages to understanding how social media amplifies lies. Then, every two weeks, volunteers receive strategic explainers about the latest issues and work on a campaign tailored to push back against the most damaging messaging trends from bad actors. And leaders are constantly evaluating success to build more effective campaigns.

Just like all our work, it’s guided by experts who monitor right-wing circles, follow the spread of disinformation, and build tested tactics to fight back. And it’s powered by real volunteers, channelling their anger into effective action to protect our democracy.

What has the Truth Brigade achieved so far? Also a good question. Since starting last year, more than 4,500 people have joined the Truth Brigade from 45 states, representing more than 400 Indivisible groups More than 5,300 distinct people and Twitter accounts are engaging in our messaging campaigns and posting Truth Brigade content regularly. And they’ve got more than 120 million measurable views on social media.

If today’s Facebook news pissed you off (it should), there are two things you can do right now to make an impact:

1. Sign up for Truth Brigade and join us in the fight against disinformation. Trust us, you’re going to love it. (And we’re active on Twitter and other social media too -- so you can still take part even if Facebook is down!)
2. Chip in a few bucks to help us keep Truth Brigade (and all our programs) running in 2021 and beyond. The only way we can keep tracking disinformation on the internet, powering trainings and tools for Truth Brigade members, and creating the fact-based messaging campaigns that folks are using to stop the spread of lies in their online communities is if people just like you find a few dollars to support it. The grassroots drives this movement, in funding as well as activism.

As always -- thanks for all that you do.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team