Dear Friend, 

I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined the Real Facebook Oversight Board (RFOB) alongside over 30 organizers, journalists, and academics who are committed to real accountability for Facebook. 

The RFOB was formed in September 2020 as a direct response to Facebook’s own “oversight board” - a Facebook-appointed body with no legitimacy to make decisions, take responsibility, or implement platform changes. 

Since its inception, the Real Facebook Oversight Board has modeled “independent, democratically accountable oversight” and called for concrete reforms to change financial incentives for big tech and regulate Facebook’s racist, exploitative algorithms.

I was motivated to take on Facebook in 2016 after the murder of Korryn Gaines by the Baltimore County Police Department. Gaines was in a confrontation with police, a situation that is unsafe for a Black person, which she was using her social media profiles to document. At the request of police, Facebook shut down her profiles and shortly after the police killed her. 

I knew then that Black people and other communities at the margins were not safe on this platform. Today Facebook has over 2 billion users, including members of my own family here in the U.S. and in El Salvador. That’s why I’m committed to a Facebook that is safe for and accountable to them, and why I decided to join the Real Facebook Oversight Board.

Being a part of the RFOB is a significant step forward for MJ's platform accountability work: 

• Through the RFOB, MediaJustice will uplift grassroots organizers’ demands through our #FireZuck campaign calling for new leadership at Facebook
• In collaboration with RFOB members, we will advocate for policy interventions to hold Facebook accountable for the harm it has caused and deliver civil rights protections for its most vulnerable users  
• We will continue calling out Facebook for prioritizing profit over people. Facebook still allows disinformation to proliferate on its platform, and has repeatedly failed to shut down white supremacists using Facebook to mobilize and incite violence

Follow along with the RFOB’s recommendations, reports, and demands on Twitter @FBoversight and Medium.

In solidarity,

Steven Renderos
Executive Director, MediaJustice