Facebook, Social Media Companies Urged by US Groups to Act Against Election Disinformation

Google, Instagram and Snap CEO were also sent the letter to urge the companies to take necessary steps.

Facebook, Social Media Companies Urged by US Groups to Act Against Election Disinformation

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Jeremy Bezanger

Social media firms backed away from election disinformation policies after the 2020 presidential election

Highlights
  • Rights groups have urged social media firms to fight false information
  • A surge of disinformation led to the January 2021 US Capitol attack
  • The rights group reached out to Google, Instagram and Snap and more firms
Advertisement

Social media companies including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok must act now to blunt the effect of false information - including Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that his 2020 defeat was the result of fraud - in this year's US midterm congressional elections, rights groups said on Thursday.

Social media platforms backed away from policies designed to fight election disinformation after the 2020 presidential race won by US Democratic President Joe Biden, more than 100 advocacy groups, led by Common Cause, said in a letter to social media executives.

A surge of disinformation then led to the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump and that disinformation continues to multiply, they said, citing research and public reporting.

"High-profile disinformation spreaders and other bad actors are continuing to use social media platforms to disseminate messages that undermine trust in elections," read a letter sent to chief executives and signed by more than 100 groups lead by Common Cause.

"Candidates are using the Big Lie as a platform plank to pre-emptively declare voter fraud in order to dispute the results of the 2022 election," they wrote. "This is damaging American democracy by undermining faith in the integrity of our elections."

The letter, also sent to the CEOs of Google, Instagram and Snap, urged the companies to take steps, including prioritizing fact-checking and providing real-time access of data to external researchers and watchdogs.

Priority must be given to fighting the "Big Lie" that voter fraud cost Trump the White House in 2020, the letter said.

The groups also sought greater transparency on political advertisements, enforcement practices and algorithmic models.

Others that signed include voting rights and election integrity groups as well as the Center for American Progress, the League of Women Voters, Greenpeace, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Arab American Institute.

© Thomson Reuters 2022


How is Alexa faring in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Elon Musk's Legal Issues Said to be Cause of Tesla, Twitter Shares Drop
Google Pixel 6a Price in India Tipped, Launch Speculated for July-End
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »