People are dying from disinformation. Isn't it time to put a stop to it?
#Politics #Disinformation #Biden #CapitolRiot #COVID-19 #ClimateCrisis #Avaaz #Petition
"Dear friends,
I’ve fallen for ‘fake news’ a time or two. Probably most of us have. But tens of millions of Americans have fallen hard, lured by lies into believing debunked conspiracy theories about COVID-19, climate change, and even the integrity of our elections.
Our friends, family, and fellow citizens are dying from disinformation -- even killing because of it. They’re refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, rejecting climate science, and storming our Capitol because they believe the lies and half-truths flooding their feeds.
Social media companies won’t help unless they’re forced to, because dangerous conspiracies and lies are part of their billion-dollar bottom line. President Biden could rein them in, and he’s deciding right now whether to make disinformation a priority for his next 100 days.
Let’s make him hear our voices! Join us now and together we’ll land our call for strong tech regulation directly on Biden’s doorstep. If we get enough signers, we’ll print a custom newspaper headlined with our call and hand-deliver it to the White House.
It can seem like an impossible task to stop the constant stream of lies and hate from dragging down our friends and fellow citizens. But to protect their people, governments have brought every major new industry in modern history under regulation -- even when it seemed impossible. Tobacco. Telephones. Television. Railroads. Radio. Automobiles. Airlines. For the sake of our people, our democracies, and our planet, the time has come again. President Biden can, and must, govern the tech giants.
Critics will say that free speech means you can’t force social media companies to deal with disinformation. But Avaaz has developed a suite of smart solutions that have been echoed by experts and endorsed by some of the world’s foremost defenders of free expression. And lawmakers on Capitol Hill are excited about them. But Congress is less likely to move without a clear signal from the White House.
The European Union is gearing up to adopt groundbreaking tech regulation. Let’s not let the U.S. fall behind! Join our call to President Biden to bring the tech regulation into the 21st century!
Avaaz has guarded democracies from disinformation all over the world. We’ve protected elections in Brazil, the EU, and the U.S., taking down networks and content that reached billions of views. We’ve documented hate speech and extremism in India, shown how Facebook helped make the January 6th insurrection possible, and blown the whistle on the platforms’ inability to contain disinformation about COVID-19. We’ve pushed reluctant social media platforms to adopt partial measures, but only regulation will get us the rest of the way. Let’s win this together!
With hope and determination,
Nate, Meetali, Rebecca, Kevin, Kaitlin, Marta and the rest of the Avaaz Anti-Disinfo Team"
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