A Letter to Twitter + Facebook on the Enabling of Dictators and Authoritarian Rule

To Mr. Dorsey, Mr. Zuckerberg and the Facebook Oversight Board:

We write with a collective voice to send a direct message to Mr. Dorsey, Twitter, Mr. Zuckerberg, Facebook and Facebook’s self-appointed Oversight Board. This new and damning report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism illustrates how Trump used Facebook’s policy exceptions to engage in hate speech, spread conspiracy theories, and incite violence. His actions inspired authoritarian leaders and anti-democratic politicians in the U.S. and abroad, increasing global polarization and damaging democracies. The report’s countless examples — from Bolsonaro in Brazil to Orbán in Hungary to Duterte in The Philippines — makes it abundantly clear that urgent action is necessary.

We demand that Facebook:

Make permanent the ban on Donald Trump’s account.

Immediately publish a transparent policy outlining how a user’s account is banned.

We demand that both Facebook and Twitter:

3. Assess major world leaders’ accounts against these policies, and make this assessment transparent and public. We know their outsized influence causes outsized harm. Enough is enough.

We’ve already witnessed an attempted coup in the United States, unthinkable only years ago. The time to act is now. Human lives depend on it.

Signed,

Accountable Tech

Anti-Defamation League

Free Press

Global Project Against Hate and Extremism

International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH)

Media Matters

Muslim Advocates

National Hispanic Media Coalition

#NetzCourage

“NEVER AGAIN” Association

Real Facebook Oversight Board

Rappler

Sleeping Giants

Stop Funding Heat

Stop Online Violence Against Women

Sum of Us