Tell Facebook: Fix Your Fake News Problem

In the wake of the 2016 election, one thing has become increasingly clear: there is a huge problem with the news that tens of millions of Americans get from Facebook.

According to a recent Pew poll, 62% of Americans now get news on social media, with Facebook overwhelmingly being the most popular platform. And yet too often it was not news that Americans found on Facebook, but rather fake stories dressed up as the news.

Evidence shows that Facebook is riddled with lies. One report even found that teenagers in Macedonia were able to game Facebook and get their Trump propaganda posts shared into the news feeds of millions.

Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sat down with conservatives who complained that right-wing news was suppressed on Facebook. It was after that meeting that Facebook fired their human editors and replaced them all with algorithms. This decision further unleashed fake news on Facebook.

A new bombshell report revealed that Facebook knew about the fake news problem and had the ability to do something about it, but declined to fix the issue out of fear that the right-wing would complain.

If we have learned anything from the past two decades, it is that it is crucial not to cave to right-wing bullying and manipulations.

Despite overwhelming data and insider reporters, Mark Zuckerberg refuses to even acknowledge the problem publicly. (Which is odd given that he was willing to sit down with discredited right-wing misinformers over totally unsubstantiated cries of bias)

Join us in asking Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook to take two concrete steps:

1) Acknowledge the problem of the proliferation of fake news on Facebook.
2) Commit to taking action to fix the problem.

It’s high time that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook fix their fake news problem and address the fever swamp/cesspool of misinformation that Facebook has become.

If that hurts liberals, so be it. If that hurts conservatives, so be it. If that hurts teenagers publishing fake news in Macedonia, so be it. Let the chips fall where they may.

It’s time for the truth to have its day. That’s all we’re asking for.