The DNC is calling out Facebook for its “unkept promises, uneven policies,” over the tech behemoth’s stated commitment to combating disinformation on its platform.
In a memo released Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee chastised the social media giant for allegedly breaking its promises to limit sensationalist and polarizing content, as well as falling short on its plea to implement an adequate fact-checking program.
The lengthy memo also admonished Facebook for its “underdeveloped and unevenly applied policies,” which the DNC claims allowed President Trump to publish posts that spread disinformation and incite violence.
“… As Facebook was making this public commitment to stop incentivising [sic] disinformation, the company was privately doing the opposite. The company’s internal ‘Common Ground’ team had found that disinformation and hyperpolarization came ‘disproportionately from a small pool of hyperpartisan users’ whose reach was amplified by the platform; and, further, that a disproportionately larger number of these voices came from the far right. The ‘Common Ground’ team proposed that these purveyors of disinformation no longer should be amplified by Facebook’s algorithm,” the memo said.
“In response, rather than adopting that reform, Facebook rejected it and disbanded the team.”
The DNC’s accusations of disinformation on the platform center around Trump’s posts that raised concern about the viability of mail-in voting, such as posts declaring that “MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES” and that “mailboxes will be robbed.”
The memo said the posts lie about methods of voting, and that Facebook should have removed them.
The Democrats’ memo also said Facebook should have removed Trump’s infamous post that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” because it incites violence.
“Rather than enforcing its clear policies against such content, Facebook chose to allow the post to stay up — calling the White House to so inform them, rather than adhering to its clear policy,” the DNC wrote.
They also called for stricter rules surrounding false political ads, and said there are too many delays in the fact-checking process, which allows misinformation to stay unchecked on the site for days.
In the company’s defense, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said it has worked hard to fight misinformation.
“Since 2016, Facebook has worked to secure our platforms from interference, tripled the number of people working on safety and security, and added political advertising transparency and controls, all while fighting misinformation with the help of an unmatched global network of over 70 fact-checking organizations including 10 in the U.S.,” Stone said.