Tell Big Tech: Stop Online Misogyny and Protect Democracy
In 2020, social media companies did little to stop the spread of false election information and violence, like the attacks on the Capitol. This election season they must do better.
We’re demanding Big Tech platforms take serious action to protect our elections and stop the spread of misogyny online
Why is this important?
Last election season, right-wing extremists attacked the United States Capitol in the hopes of preventing the democratic process and stopping the electoral vote counting.
Before this violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that killed five people, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook knew that white supremacist misogynists were using their platforms to organize violent actions, spread false information claiming Trump won, and threaten election workers, mostly Black women in places like Georgia. They did little to stop it.
According to The New York Times, the phrase "Storm the Capitol" was used 100,000 times on social media platforms in the month preceding the attack.
Social media and tech platforms undermine democracy and spread extremism, racism, misogyny, lies, and violence--and make a huge profit from it.
With the midterm elections only a month away, we're demanding that the big social media giants take immediate steps to:
- Remove false information and violence including racist and sexist hate speech, threats against candidates and election workers, and hateful or violent political advertisements -- even when that hateful content is posted by a public figure or celebrity.
- Address widespread false medical info on abortion since it will be a hot-button election issue
- Depolarize social media by encouraging users to engage more frequently with legitimate, well-researched news and peer-reviewed articles--not disinformation, conspiracies, opinion posts, or claims that are not backed up by science.
- Increase transparency around moderation decisions, staffing and use of user data
When thousands of us have taken action in the past, we've secured real victories. We recently got YouTube to ban abortion disinformation. We got Reddit to remove sexist content including kicking off a hate-based group called The Donald. We pressured TikTok to officially ban misogyny. The platforms need to hear from us now, before election day.
Tell social media companies: Take immediate action to protect our elections and stop the spread of online misogyny.