Facebook’s Latest Policy on Hate Speech and Voter Disinformation Misses the Mark

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and leading civil rights groups issued the following statement on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's latest policy announcement on hate speech and voter disinformation:

"While we welcome any progress in Facebook's policies, today's announcement continues the company's practice of taking incremental steps while avoiding the core issues that endanger the rights of the communities we represent. This nibbling at the edges represents the company's ongoing failure to fully appreciate the harmful impact of disinformation on elections and the proliferation of hate speech and violence, particularly for communities of color. Facebook needs to improve and enforce its own policies and stop the weaponization of its platform to suppress the vote, spread hate, and undermine our democracy. This announcement is another stark reflection of the lack of civil rights expertise at Facebook."

The following organizations endorse this statement:

• The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
• Color Of Change
• Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Muslim Advocates
• NAACP
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• National Urban League
• UnidosUS
• Voto Latino