2024 Election Plans a “Hollow Obfuscation — Watch What Meta Does, Not What They Say”

29 November — Statement from Real Facebook Oversight Board Policy Advisor Zamaan Qureshi responding to Meta’s 2024 election plans:

“Meta may claim to be taking steps to protect the integrity of their platforms for the 2024 election cycle, but their actions tell us something very different. Meta has laid off election integrity staff, decided to allow advertisements claiming the 2020 election was rigged, is actively allowing deep fakes branding the President a pedophile and has given up on proactively policing disinformation.

This is a company that cannot be taken seriously, and that cannot be trusted.

We know from the 2020 elections that Meta has the power to implement “break glass” solutions that can completely alter the platform and create a more reliable information environment. But as with their handling of child sexual abuse material on their platforms and the myriad abuses exposed in recent weeks, they simply choose not to.

With more citizens worldwide likely to vote in elections in 2024 than ever before in the history of the world and disinformation spiraling, we need more election safety, not less. This is an urgent crisis and Meta will not act to protect the global town square unless forced to by regulation, legislation, litigation and oversight. Nick Clegg’s blog post is a hollow obfuscation — watch what Meta does, not what they say.”

Real Facebook Oversight Board members are available for interviews. Statements do not reflect the individual positions of all Real Facebook Oversight Board Members. Contact us at media@the-citizens.com. The Real Facebook Oversight Board is an emergency response to the ongoing harms on Facebook’s platforms from leading global scholars, experts and advocates