By the time millions of social media users have shared false information, it’s already too late.
What did Zuck promise Congress he’d do about disinformation on Facebook? Nothing. He’ll only change policies when Facebook users demand it. Join us to tell Facebook to implement a “circuit breaker” that pauses super-viral posts while they’re factchecked.
Disinformation and incitements to violence are nothing new. What is new are online platforms that spread controversial content at lightning speed, before anyone’s had a chance to check for dangerous disinformation or incitement to hatred and violence. That’s how the verifiably false “Plandemic” video spread to more than 8 million people in one week before social media companies took it down. A Facebook circuit breaker could have stopped disinformation about the pandemic and about the 2020 elections from reaching millions of people.
Americans deserve social media platforms free from attacks on our elections, free from pandemic misinformation, and free from threats to our physical safety. Circuit breakers are used in the stock exchange when there’s a dramatic drop, to pause trading and allow traders to assimilate new information and make better-informed choices. Social media circuit breaking would work the same way, pausing the most high-volume posts for factchecking before dangerous disinformation spreads far and wide.
Facebook can and should build and flip the switch!
As Facebook users, we demand the company enact a circuit breaker policy to stem the flow of hate and lies! Please join the Facebook Users Union in demanding that Facebook create a circuit breaker and sign the petition here.
