WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) blasted Facebook for its continued failure to fact-check posts by politicians. In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sen. Menendez expressed concerns for potential harmful or false content that often distorts our political conversations, especially during a presidential election year. The letter comes days after Twitter began adding warning labels to refute inaccuracies in President Trump’s messages on its platform. Just yesterday, dozens of Facebook employees protested Zuckerberg’s decision to refuse to fact-check the President’s inflammatory posts.

“I write to urge you to address the proliferation of disinformation on Facebook, specifically as it pertains to political speech.” Sen. Menendez wrote in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “The recent decision by Twitter to apply warning labels to President Trump’s tweets, shows that social media companies can both allow users to exercise their freedom of speech, while preventing false, or potentially harmful content from spreading across their platforms.”

Last week, as a response to Twitter’s actions, President Trump threatened to “punish Facebook, YouTube, or other platforms that interfered with his ability to communicate directly with his followers”. “The President’s response to this action (…) should not discourage you from following in Twitter’s footsteps,” noted Sen. Menendez in his letter to Zuckerberg.

In a recent interview, Zuckerberg explained why he thinks “Facebook or internet platforms in general should be arbiters of truth,” arguing his platform has no plans to start fact-checking what politicians post.

“Your refusal to fact-check public officials and politicians represents a major gap in your efforts to ensure the veracity of content on your site, and it is in direct contradiction with your mission to ‘give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together,’” Sen. Menendez continued. “Bringing the world together with posts that incite hate and spread misinformation is certainly not the goal you set to achieve, and is not the right of way of building communities or conducting a business.”

“Adding warning labels to content that incites violence or misrepresent facts is a reasonable and achievable goal that would limit the spread of this content without compromising freedom of speech. I hope you reconsider this matter soon, before we look back at another presidential election and see an outcome distorted by your inaction,” Sen. Menendez concluded.

Last month, Sen. Menendez blasted the social media giant for its continued failure to protect users from the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation on its platform.

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

I write to urge you to address the proliferation of disinformation on Facebook, specifically as it pertains to political speech. As I have expressed to you in previous communications, promoting harmful or false content on your platform distorts our political conversations. This is especially troubling as we approach a presidential election.

The recent decision by Twitter to apply warning labels to President Trump’s tweets shows that social media companies can both allow users to exercise their freedom of speech and prevent false or potentially harmful content from spreading across their platforms. The President’s response to this action—threatening to “punish Facebook, YouTube, or other platforms that interfered with his ability to communicate directly with his followers” — should not discourage you from following in Twitter’s footsteps.

Although I agree with your statement, “political speech is one of the most sensitive parts in a democracy, and people should be able to see what politicians say,” it’s baffling to read that in the same interview on May 28, 2020, you continue to maintain that Facebook should not fact-check posts by politicians. Moreover, as reported by Axios, you spoke to the President on May 30, 2020. That same day you posted that would not take down a one of his posts referencing police brutality in Minnesota. I cannot help but wonder if your position in based in part on the revenue generated by political advertisers. Your refusal to fact-check public officials and politicians represents a major gap in your efforts to ensure the veracity of content on your site, and it is in direct contradiction with your mission to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” Your own employees disagree with your position, as they made clear on June 1, 2020 by staging a virtual walkout. More than a dozen employees tweeted their explicit disagreement with your stance. Bringing the world together with posts that incite hate and spread misinformation is certainly not the goal you set to achieve, and is not the right of way of building communities or conducting a business.

Given the tenor of our political times, and the effects that a single post can have in inciting violence, Facebook has a responsibility to take concrete steps to curtail the spread this type of content from political sources. Adding warning labels to content that incites violence or misrepresent facts is a reasonable and achievable goal that would limit the spread of this content without compromising freedom of speech. Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

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