Presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden is demanding Facebook stop President Trump from pushing false or misleading claims on the platform or engage in what his critics have said amounts to hate speech.
In a letter to the company dated June 29, Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon pleaded with Facebook to take specific action to curb what Trump or his campaign can broadcast in posts on the platform.
“As I am sure you will agree, it is absolutely vital that the American public clearly understand what it is that Facebook has so far committed — or declined — to do in order to protect against abuse of its platform to suppress the vote or incite violence,” the letter reads. “The course of public statements and adjustments to your policies governing misinformation have generated considerable confusion about where matters stand and the extent to which Facebook has made meaningful changes.”
The Biden campaign cited recent reporting in the Washington Post confirming that Facebook officials “have been involved in making political judgments about how policy changes might offend ‘right-leaning publishers.'”
The letter suggested data shows that “conservative leaning outlets were pushing more content that violated [Facebook’s] policies” than left-leaning outlets.
Trump’s use of social media has become a sticking point for critics in recent weeks.
Late last month, Twitter added a fact-check to one of Trump’s tweets suggesting mail-in voting leads to a higher likelihood of voter fraud. Weeks later, the company hid tweets Trump sent during protests resulting from the death of George Floyd about “looting and shooting,” saying they glorified violence.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hesitant to place the same restrictions on Trump’s page.
“I don’t think that you build a company that gives people a voice like this if you don’t believe that individuals having a voice is a good thing,” he said in late May. “But broadly speaking, we try to give people as much latitude and having a voice as possible.”
Critics, including some Facebook employees, have chided Zuckerberg for his refusal to censor Trump, saying he is providing cover for hate speech.
“And a lot of those FB employees are PISSED about what he has been doing, there have been massive walk outs,” said Matt Haney, a city councilmember in San Francisco where Zuckerberg’s name is on a public hospital. “This isn’t an attack on FB employees at all, it’s in solidarity. I bet a lot of them, maybe majority, would agree that their CEO’s name shouldn’t be on SF’s public hospital.”
The Biden campaign suggested Facebook change its algorithm to balance the playing field online.
“The question is whether your platform’s algorithm should continue to amplify that material to the attention of tens of millions of people because it is divisive and inflammatory. The answer to that question is no, which should be clearer now than ever before,” the letter said. “Facebook simply must address the continued mismatches between the assurances it makes and the steps it actually takes.”
