NATIONWIDE — In response to Trump’s Executive Order that seeks to reinterpret Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Color Of Change Senior Campaign Director Brandi Collins-Dexter issued the following statement:

“Tech accountability that actually keeps Black communities and other vulnerable groups safe requires serious regulation of Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, and other large platforms — not this political theater.

Facebook in particular has employed a long-term strategy of cozying up with right-wing forces that is paying off.  This Executive Order is a thinly-veiled reward to Facebook for its free pass to conservative politicians like Trump, who are spreading lies, hate and misinformation on the platform. Facebook is receiving political cover as it continues to wreak havoc on our democracy, trampling civil rights and enabling voter suppression while raking in billions in political advertising dollars.

The deep political coordination between Facebook and the White House was articulated clearly when last night, Zuckerberg went on Trump’s favorite news channel to publicly reject any efforts to fact-check his statements. Make no mistake: the FOX interview is the culmination of a years-long power grab by Facebook executives and board members who have been most willing to ignore their responsibility to protect our democracy —  Joel Kaplan, Nick Clegg, Peter Thiel, to name a few.

In addition to antitrust enforcement, we need a robust Data Protection Agency that can focus on digital, data and algorithmic discrimination as well as privacy protection, compliance with data protection obligations and emerging privacy challenges. As we face an unknown future with the COVID-19 epidemic, immediate passage of the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act is necessary to ensure strict oversight of new health data collection, so that existing inequalities in our society are not exacerbated.”

 

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