For Immediate Release: June 4, 2021
Media Contact: media@colorofchange.org
Color Of Change Doubles Down on Calls for Big Tech Regulation Following Facebook’s ‘Cop-Out’ Decision to Suspend Trump Until 2023
NATIONWIDE — In response to Facebook’s announcement today to suspend former president Donald Trump from the platform until 2023, Color Of Change Vice President Arisha Hatch issued the following statement:
“For more than five years, Color Of Change has been calling on Facebook to permanently remove Trump due to his countless abuses, often directed at communities of color, and violations of the company’s community guidelines. We were repeatedly told by Facebook leadership that politicians were largely exempt from their content moderation policies, giving Trump the uninhibited ability to weaponize his account to spread online hate and disinformation, incite violence against Black communities and our allies, and ultimately, instigate the deadly January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. The Oversight Board’s decision last month set the stage for this cop-out move by Facebook to arbitrarily suspend Trump until 2023.
A paltry two-year suspension paves the way for Trump’s eventual return to the platform and his continued propagation of white nationalism, violence and racism online. The company’s policy team, led by Joel Kaplan — who has intervened on behalf of Trump and white nationalists numerous times — now holds the power to reinstate Trump’s accounts just in time for the 2024 presidential election. What was a months-long bureaucratic process to determine Trump’s fate on Facebook has now turned into a years-long affair that remains illegitimate and anti-democratic.
We know Facebook’s profit-driven algorithm allows Trump’s hate-fueled content to thrive, and yet the company has failed to address how he will face meaningful restrictions or be held accountable if his account is reinstated in 2023. To make matters worse, the strike system rules released today by Facebook reveal just how flimsy the company’s approach is. Beyond the opaque nature of how the strikes will be levied, by allowing all strikes on its platforms to expire after one year, bad actors such as Trump who spread dangerous disinformation, amplify hateful rhetoric and make open threats to our communities will be free to carry on with business as usual following a slap on the wrist.
Facebook has demonstrated on multiple occasions they can indeed create policies to address the harms of its platform. But Facebook leadership’s repeated failure to do so illustrates their ongoing commitment to the prioritization of profit and power over Black lives and our democracy.
It’s increasingly clear that urgent government intervention is required. The Biden-Harris administration and Congress must rein in Facebook’s stranglehold on our democracy and pass algorithmic accountability legislation such as the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act to ensure the safety of Black communities nationwide. Until that happens, Color Of Change will continue to work with our allies and our millions of members to call for regulation, hold Facebook accountable and demand a permanent ban of Trump from the platform.”
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About Color Of Change:
Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over 7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org