BREAKING NEWS: We just found out Meta is profiting from violent ads calling for a military coup in Brazil – all while top execs get rich from it.
With the Brazilian presidential election just days away, Meta is approving ads inciting violence and spewing hate speech, and its algorithms are pushing users towards extremist conspiracy theories about election fraud.
The company’s top execs are terrified of being associated with another attempted coup like January 6th. Let’s use the power of our community to pressure Meta to crack down on election lies, and show it that the world is watching.
With only days to go until Brazil goes to the polls we have to act now! Sign and share:
Tell Meta: Stop promoting election disinformation and calls for violence in Brazil
Our research is clear. Meta's toxic algorithms are not only failing to remove incitements to violence but are actively amplifying hate and election disinformation.
If users keep being pushed towards the most extreme and violent posts, there will be no stopping Brazil’s very own Stop the Steal movement.
Some will try to place the onus on the users creating the content. But there is no denying that these violent extremists wouldn’t have the platform they do without Meta holding them out a giant megaphone.
We will not let these tech giants keep profiting from hate, disinformation and calls for violence.
Meta: Protect our democracies, not your bottom line
When Meta tried to force users in Brazil into selling their data, SumOfUs members just like you banned together to stop the rollout of this abusive and illegal policy. Together, we can make Meta listen this time too.
SumOfUs is calling on Meta, Google and TikTok to immediately implement a series of actions exemplified below:
1) Hire more content moderators with sufficient understanding of the local political context and providing them with fair pay and decent working conditions;
2) Improve its ad account verification process so as to more effectively filter out accounts posting content that undermines the integrity of elections;
3) Assess, mitigate and publish the risks posed by their platforms to human rights in the countries in which they operate;
4) Publish details of the steps they’ve taken in each country and in each language to ensure election integrity and their progress;
5) Increase transparency by listing full details of all ads in the Meta ad library;
6) Allow verified independent third party auditing;
7) Adopt the recommendations of 90+ civil society groups in Brazil issued September 2022.
More information
The role of platforms in protecting electoral integrity in the Brazil 2022 election
Brazil civil society organizations. 1 September 2022.
Brazil civil society organizations. 1 September 2022.
Facebook Owner Meta Is Failing to Prevent Repeat of Jan. 6 in Brazil, Report Warns
Time Magazine. 5 September 2022.
Time Magazine. 5 September 2022.
