Facebook’s policy not to fact-check ads from politicians isn’t sitting well with the tech giant’s employees.
In an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company leaders obtained by the New York Times, more than 250 Facebook workers took issue with the tech giant’s decision to hold politicians to fewer restrictions on the content they include in ads.
“Free speech and paid speech are not the same thing. Misinformation affects us all,” the workers said. “Our current policies on fact-checking people in political office, or those running for office, are a threat to what FB stands for.”
The text of the letter has been available through the company’s internal communications program for two weeks, the New York Times reported, and the group of employees joins Democratic lawmakers, 2020 presidential candidates, and civil rights groups in voicing their dissatisfaction with Facebook’s stance on fact-checking messages included in political ads.
The policy as it stands, they wrote, “doesn’t protect voices, but instead allows politicians to weaponize our platform by targeting people who believe that content posted by political figures is trustworthy.”
Facebook in recent weeks has come under fire for its policy, which it announced after President Trump’s re-election campaign ran an ad that included false information about Democratic presidential frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Zuckerberg was grilled by Democrats on Capitol Hill last week about the decision, and Rep. Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, accused Zuckerberg of profiting off the false claims made by elected officials and candidates.
Others have sought to test the boundaries of the policy. On Thursday, a progressive political action committee posted an ad erroneously claiming South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham supported the Green New Deal. The ad was rated false by a third-party fact-checking site that works with Facebook and subsequently removed.
The Facebook chief, however, has defended the rules. In a speech at Georgetown University, Zuckerberg said he doesn’t believe a private company should “censor politicians or the news in a democracy.” Then, last week, he told Congress that in a democracy, “it is important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying.”
Facebook’s employees warned of the dangers posed by the company’s decision not to fact-check ads from elected officials or candidates, including a rise in distrust in the platform and an unraveling of the work done by its integrity teams.
They also made suggestions for how Facebook should handle ad-related content, including subjecting political ads to the same standards as others on the platform, making it easier for users to differentiate between political ads and organic posts, restricting targeting for political ads, and implementing a spending cap for politicians.
“We are proud of the work that the integrity teams have done, and we don’t want to see that undermined by policy,” they wrote.
Facebook’s new policy comes as the social media giant prepares for the 2020 election, though some are fearful the company is not prepared to combat the spread of disinformation on the platform.
Facebook revealed last week it removed four campaigns that traced back to Russia and Iran that targeted the United States and spread disinformation and divisive content on social media.
