For Immediate Release: June 17, 2020
“For years, Facebook has chosen to stay silent in the face of hateful rhetoric and rampant racism. We value efforts to increase civic participation but let’s be clear: announcing the intention to register four million voters does not negate that Facebook is raking in millions of dollars from misinformation and violent rhetoric. Specifically, the failure to stop elected officials from lying about elections on their platform directly undermines any work to inform and mobilize voters. Simply allowing users to turn off political ads, without holding elected officials to a higher standard, is yet another failure to responsibly moderate content and keep Black users safe.
Despite deep public unpopularity, regulatory scrutiny and endless legal battles, Facebook has gotten away with racist practices and perpetuating misinformation because corporations continue to feed ad dollars — nearly $70 billion — into the company’s coffers. Corporations spending millions with Facebook on a monthly basis are complicit in the company’s shortcomings to address misinformation, voter suppression and the proliferation of hate groups on the platform, and is the moment to change that.
Instead of claiming sympathies for Black people’s struggles on every platform, billboard and email inbox, we invite corporate decision makers to take action for Black Americans by halting Facebook ad buys in July. Corporations that decline our call to suspend Facebook ads will also be staying silent in what has finally become a global charge to end anti-Blackness in every setting of our lives, including on the world’s largest social media platform.”
