John,

Viewers of Fox News are twice as likely to believe Covid lies as those who get their news from NPR, CNN, or MSNBC. An astonishing 82% of Fox News watchers believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Now Fox News is shamefully lying to its audience about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Tucker Carlson has claimed that Ukraine isn't a real democracy, that Putin is simply trying to resolve a border dispute, and that whatever the autocrat's failings, he's not as bad as progressives in the U.S. who criticize Fox News.

It's no exaggeration to say that Fox News' disinformation has become an existential threat to our democracy — and we must fight back.

Inequality Media has a two-pronged strategy to confront the threat of Fox News. We must inoculate against Fox's by continuing to build the largest, most engaged social media following possible, and then testing and deploying the most effective messages with targeted constituencies. And we must reduce the reach of Fox News by getting as many cable companies as possible to drop the network.

Inequality Media is using its massive reach on social media and its educational videos to inoculate the public against lies from Tucker Carlson and the rest of Trump's toadies on Fox. And we're demanding that all the cable companies de-platform and take Fox off the air, once and for all. Will you chip in?

Fox News recklessly broadcasts disinformation that makes a harmful imprint on its viewers, who, according to poll after poll, are far more likely than other Americans to believe lies about the pandemic and the 2020 election.

Most of Fox's own executives and anchors don't even believe their network's lies. Fox requires its employees to be vaccinated or to submit to regular Covid tests, but Carlson, who with 3.2 million viewers hosts the most-watched show on cable news, regularly features guests who peddle the lie that vaccines are harmful.

The day of the January 6 insurrection, both Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity begged Trump to call off the attacks. Yet they've promoted the Big Lie that Trump won the election and that the riot was a patriotic protest ever since.

Enough is enough. Fox News should not have free rein to spew blatant disinformation directly into the homes of millions of Americans, 24 hours a day, seven days a week — especially not in the middle of an escalating war between a self-determined democracy and a murderous autocrat.

This is a fight we can win. YouTube has permanently banned Fox News host Dan Bongino for Covid disinformation. Twitter permanently deplatformed Trump. Facebook permanently banned Alex Jones and his InfoWars fringe conspiracy theory content. And DirecTV just announced it will permanently drop the far right-wing propaganda channel One America News.

Comcast, Charter, AT&T, and every other cable company can drop Fox, too. We just have to fight to make it happen.

Every day, cable companies stream Fox News into millions of American homes, spreading dangerous disinformation and putting lives at risk. It's time for it to stop. Will you chip in to deplatform Fox and inoculate its viewers against their lies?

Thanks for all you do,

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action