John,
January 6, 2021 will be remembered as one of the darkest days for democracy in modern United States history, and the attack’s anniversary coincides with the kickoff of an election year. In order to ensure election integrity and reduce disinformation on Facebook, Congress needs to pass a federal data privacy law.
Tell your lawmakers that we need data privacy to ensure election integrity!
SIGN ON
When Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress in October, she named algorithmic manipulation as the platform’s source of power.1 Now, lawmakers are beginning to talk seriously about data privacy.
The Facebook Papers2 prove what experts have long suspected: the social media monopoly is using personal data to fuel algorithms designed to maximize engagement above everything else, including human rights, election integrity, mental health, and public health.3 Its invasive surveillance collects massive amounts of personal data, allowing advertisers (including political propagandists) to microtarget the people who are most likely to be influenced by the content.
The anniversary of January 6 falls at the beginning of the midterm election cycle. Data privacy is an election integrity issue because manipulation like Facebook’s is powered by personal data collected via mass surveillance. In order to secure future elections, Congress and regulatory agencies must cut off Facebook’s fuel supply by implementing a federal data privacy law.
If policymakers don’t act on what we learned from January 6, personal data-powered mass election interference will become the norm. To ensure election integrity, lawmakers must disarm Facebook’s data weapon by passing a data privacy law.
Sign the petition telling Congress to #StopFacebook and protect election integrity by cutting off the fuel for algorithmic manipulation.
For the future of democracy,
Erica & the Team at ❤️Fight
1. MIT Technology Review: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036519/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-algorithms/
2. Protocol: https://www.protocol.com/facebook-papers
3. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/25/what-are-the-facebook-papers/
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