Kairos

Kairos

Campaigns

  • Tell Congress: Subpoena Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook leadership
    Last week, Frances Haugen, former Facebook employee turned whistleblower, confirmed for members of Congress what nearly all of us know by now: Facebook threatens democracies, Black and brown people, youth, and vulnerable communities around the world.¹ Every time Facebook chooses money over morality that decision is made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his executive team. Zuckerberg may be the public face of the company, but his choices and decisions are enabled by the yes-people around him. We deserve answers and Congress needs to get on the record explanations from Facebook’s leadership team about the harm the company has caused.² Zuckerberg has testified in front of Congress before, but it’s different now. The Wall Street Journal investigation coupled with Haugen's damning testimony shows that Zuckerberg and the executive leadership team fully understood how they were fueling QAnon conspiracists, bolstering The Proud Boys, and damaging the mental health of teens — all to line the pockets of one of the wealthiest men in the world.² Tell Congress to subpoena Mark Zuckerberg and all of Facebook’s leadership and get them on the record in a congressional hearing by signing this petition. Frances Haugen’s testimony before the Senate Commerce subcommittee meticulously and clearly documented the ongoing harms and threats Facebook causes with its regular practices. One such practice is Facebook’s continued use of algorithms that lift up content that makes people engage emotionally — specifically angrily. This is what allows white supremacist groups and anti-vaxxer disinformation to thrive on Facebook.³ We demand that Zuckerberg and the entire executive team answer to the charges that time and time again, Facebook knowingly put profit over threats to our democracy, our lives, and our children’s well-being. Sign the petition to Congress: Subpoena Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s whole executive team. Sources: 1. “Facebook’s whistleblower tells Congress how to regulate tech,” Vox, Recode, Oct. 5, 2021. https://www.vox.com/recode/22711551/facebook-whistleblower-congress-hearing-regulation-mark-zuckerberg-frances-haugen-senator-blumenthal 2. “Facebook whistleblower testifies before Senate committee,” CNBC, Oct. 5, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/05/facebook-whistleblower-testifies-before-senate-committee.html 3. “Facebook Whistleblower to Congress: Regulate Big Tech. Silicon Valley Can’t Be Trusted to Police Itself,” Democracy Now!, Oct. 6, 2021. https://www.democracynow.org/2021/10/6/facebook_hearing
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  • Tell Amazon: Drop police partnerships
    Amazon’s Ring and police across the country would like us to buy into the idea that more surveillance equals more safety. But domestic violence advocates argue that police interventions often escalate violence rather than stop it, and that families in danger need emergency housing, support, and resources – not video doorbells. Tell Jamie Siminoff, CEO Ring, Amazon, to stop partnering with police and start working with experts in domestic violence to help victims and families. Amazon markets Ring heavily even without evidence it can help victims of domestic violence. Since its creation Ring has pursued police partnerships to sell their concept of surveillance as safety. Now Ring is adding domestic violence partnerships with more than 1,800 law enforcement agencies and 360 fire departments across the U.S., providing free doorbell cameras in exchange for promoting Ring and the Neighbors app. But police intervention often escalates domestic violence, rather than stops it. [1] In 2008 Derek Chauvin, the racist officer who murdered George Floyd, responded to a domestic violence call by busting down the door of Ira Toles’s bathroom and shooting him at close range. The police violence left the household traumatized. [2] Amazon’s Ring may very well make violent police escalation easier and more frequent. And the impact will be felt more harshly in Black and brown communities. Domestic violence has spiked under COVID-19 conditions, disproportionately affecting Black and brown households with less money, since economic independence is a critical factor in violence prevention. [3] If Amazon wants to make a positive contribution to preventing domestic violence and supporting its victims, the company should work with experts rather than the police. Sources: 1. “Police Are Giving Amazon Ring Cameras to Survivors of Domestic Violence. Is It Helping?” Type Investigations, September 20, 2021. https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2021/09/20/police-are-giving-amazon-ring-cameras-to-survivors-of-domestic-violence-is-it-helping/ 2. “Minneapolis Man: Cop Who Kneeled on George Floyd ‘Tried to Kill Me’ in 2008.” The Daily Beast, May 29, 2020. https://www.thedailybeast.com/minneapolis-man-alleges-derek-chauvin-tried-to-kill-him-before-he-kneeled-on-george-floyd 3. “A Pandemic Within a Pandemic — Intimate Partner Violence during Covid-19.” The New England Journal of Medicine, December 10, 2020. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2024046
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  • Mark Zuckerberg: Stop playing with our democracy
    In July, Facebook failed its own civil rights audit with a report concluding that the social media giant fails to understand the urgency of the situation and how the platform will have a direct impact on the U.S. presidential election in November. [1] Since then, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, has shown little interest in ensuring the integrity of the upcoming election. In fact, Facebook and other platforms owned by Facebook have shown to be biased in favor of right-wing propaganda and Donald Trump’s campaign. Facebook has fired an employee for collecting evidence that employees, like Joel Kaplan, were intervening in favor of right-wing pages. [2] And Instagram, a Facebook-owned platform, displayed more negative content for hashtags related to Joe Biden, but hid negative content for hashtags related to Donald Trump. [3] The top-performing posts on Facebook also overwhelmingly tend to be right-wing pages. [4] And Facebook has repeatedly failed to stop the spread of hate against marginalized groups. [5] Most recently, Facebook's moderators failed to shut down a Kenosha militia group organizing on its platform despite complaints from users that it was inciting violence. [6] Facebook is playing a dangerous game. But it seems to be more concerned with stopping employee leaks—by firing employees who collect evidence, for example—than actually fixing the issue. As we continue the fight for a better and more inclusive democracy, we can’t afford to sit back and watch Facebook undermine our democracy. Sign the petition to let Mark Zuckerberg know that he must immediately stop the amplification of right-wing propaganda and stop allowing Facebook platforms to put a thumb on the scale in favor of Donald Trump. Sources: 1. “Facebook Just Failed Its First Ever Civil Rights Audit,” Vice, July 8, 2020 https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akz7qa/facebook-finally-agreed-to-a-civil-rights-audit-and-surprise-surprise-it-failed 2. “Facebook Fired An Employee Who Collected Evidence Of Right-Wing Pages Getting Preferential Treatment,” Buzzfeed News, August 6, 2020 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facebook-zuckerberg-what-if-trump-disputes-election-results 3. “Instagram Displayed Negative Related Hashtags For Biden, But Hid Them For Trump,” Buzzfeed News, August 5, 2020 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/instagram-related-hashtags-favoring-trump-over-biden 4. “How Facebook Became the Social Media Home of the Right,” Vanity Fair, June 5, 2020 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/how-facebook-became-the-social-media-home-of-the-right 5. “20 States Warn Facebook To Do Better At Fighting Hate And Discrimination,” Forbes, August 5, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/08/05/20-states-warn-facebook-to-do-better-at-fighting-hate-and-discrimination/ 6. "Facebook chose not to act on militia complaints before Kenosha shooting," The Verge, August 26, 2020 https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/26/21403004/facebook-kenosha-militia-groups-shooting-blm-protest
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  • Tell Nextdoor: Ban QAnon
    Last week's attack on the Capitol had right-wing extremists and conspiracy groups like QAnon at the center of the violence. [1] But moderators at Nextdoor—a neighborhood-based social network, have been sounding the alarm to the company about the growing number of QAnon groups on the platform since at least last October. Nextdoor took months to respond, finally sending a message to moderators five days after the violent insurrection in Washington, D.C. In their late response, Nextdoor simply referred moderators to its policy on COVID-19 and election misinformation, which has no guidance about incitement of violence or fear, leaving moderators without a way to protect their communities. [2] According to Vox, calls from Nextdoor moderators for an outright ban on QAnon have been growing since January 6. [3] Nextdoor now says—privately—that it views QAnon as a hate group. [4] Yet, the company has no plans to make that hardly courageous opinion public. Unfortunately, Nextdoor's racism problem doesn't start or end with QAnon. After the police murder of George Floyd, Nextdoor put out a statement saying, "Black lives matter" and "Everyone should feel safe in their neighborhood."[5] But Black and brown Nextdoor users felt that Nextdoor actually enabled racial profiling and allowed moderators to take down content that supported the Black Lives Matter movement. With that history, it's no surprise that right-wing conspiracy groups are flourishing on Nextdoor. Other platforms, including Twitter, which suspended over 70,000 QAnon-linked accounts, are now taking the threat of QAnon seriously. [6] By doing nothing, Nextdoor is helping hate groups spread online lies and incite offline violence in thousands of neighborhoods. Nextdoor needs to know that its negligence is dangerous and damaging to both democracy and the company itself. Sign this petition telling Nextdoor’s CEO to ban QAnon on its platform. Sources: 1. “Insurrection fueled by conspiracy groups, extremists and fringe movements,” CNN, January 7, 2021 https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/us/insurrection-capitol-extremist-groups-invs/index.html 2. “Nextdoor moderators scramble to address QAnon after Capitol attack,” The Verge, January 13, 2021 https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/13/22229236/nextdoor-moderators-qanon-content-policy-rules 3. “The messy politics of Nextdoor,” Vox, October 26, 2020 https://www.vox.com/recode/21526163/nextdoor-politics-misinformation-voting-election-2020 4. “Nextdoor moderators scramble to address QAnon after Capitol attack,” The Verge, January 13, 2021 https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/13/22229236/nextdoor-moderators-qanon-content-policy-rules 5. “Inside Nextdoor's 'Karen problem',” The Verge, June 8, 2020 https://www.theverge.com/21283993/nextdoor-app-racism-community-moderation-guidance-protests 6. "Twitter suspends 70,000 accounts linked to QAnon," BBC News, January 13, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/149570?t=19&ak_proof=1&akid=%2E30452676%2Ea2TPwh
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  • Airbnb: Stop renting homes in illegal Israeli settlements
    Ben & Jerry’s recently announced that they would no longer sell their products in occupied Palestinian territories — after years of pressure from advocates.¹ Their decision should prompt more corporations to take a principled stance and exit the territories, and Airbnb should be among the first, since they already made that decision years ago. If Ben & Jerry’s won’t sell ice cream in illegal settlements, Airbnb shouldn’t rent homes there either. In 2018, after years of intense campaigning by grassroots activists and an internal audit by Airbnb, the company announced they’d stop allowing rentals in the occupied West Bank.² The reaction was swift — and a barrage of lawsuits coerced Airbnb to backpedal on the decision five months later.³ When Airbnb announced the reversal they also signaled the company’s ambivalence when they stated: “Any profits generated for Airbnb by any Airbnb host activity in the entire West Bank will be donated to nonprofit organizations dedicated to humanitarian aid that serve people in different parts of the world.”⁴ 146 Palestinian NGOs issued a statement saying that they would refuse any funds from Airbnb and called for humanitarian groups from around the world to also refuse funds from rentals in the occupied West Bank.⁵ Funds too controversial for Airbnb to take shouldn’t be passed on to humanitarian groups with a commitment to human rights and international law. In 2020, the UN published a list of 112 companies doing business with Israeli settlements in occupied territories.⁶ Airbnb is among a handful of U.S. companies included. In response to the UN list, Human Rights Watch stated that “to do business with illegal settlements is to aid in the commission of war crimes.”⁶ Sign the petition telling Airbnb to stop pretending to toe the line. Donating fees from rentals does not absolve the corporation. By allowing rentals in occupied Palestine, Airbnb is breaking international law and facilitating war crimes. Sources: 1. “Ben & Jerry's Says It Will Stop Ice Cream Sales In Occupied Territories,” NPR, July 19, 2021 https://www.npr.org/2021/07/19/1018039737/ben-jerrys-says-it-will-stop-ice-cream-sales-in-occupied-territories 2. “Listings in Disputed Regions,” Airbnb Newsroom, November, 2019 https://news.airbnb.com/listings-in-disputed-regions/ 3. “Airbnb Reverses Policy Banning Listings in Israeli Settlements in West Bank,” The New York Times, April 9, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/world/middleeast/airbnb-israel-west-bank.html 4. “Update on Listings in Disputed Regions,“ Airbnb Newsroom, April 9, 2019 https://news.airbnb.com/update-listings-disputed-regions/ 5. “To Humanitarian Groups and NonProfits Receiving Airbnb Funds: Say No to Dirty Money,” Al-Haq, Nov. 19, 2019 https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/16195.html 6. “U.N. Publishes List of Firms Doing Business with Israeli Settlements,” The New York Times, February 12, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/middleeast/un-israeli-settlements-companies-list.html
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  • Tell Facebook: Ban Trump Forever
    Update: Today (June 4, 2021) Facebook announced that they will only keep Donald Trump off the platform for 2 years from the initial suspension day of January 7, 2021. Facebook said Trump will be allowed back “if conditions permit.” This means he’ll be back just in time to campaign for the next Presidential election. Facebook is only giving Trump more time to plan how he will use the platform to spread lies and incite white supremacist violence once again. Our demand has not changed: Facebook needs to ban Trump forever. ### This week, the Facebook Oversight Board made a decision on Trump, kind of. The Board agreed that Facebook’s suspension of Donald Trump after the January 6th insurrection was correct, but they believe it was inappropriate for Facebook to indefinitely ban Trump since they believe this was an arbitrary decision. The Oversight Board believes that the penalty needs to be proportional to the harm done. Let’s be clear: the indefinite suspension of Donald Trump from Facebook and Instagram is absolutely a proportionate response to the harms he has caused. From insurrection at the Capitol to contributing to the rise in AAPI hate crimes and escalating harm against Black and brown communities by aiding white supremacy, anything short of indefinite suspension would be reprehensible. The Board has passed the baton back to Facebook and gave the company 6 months to assess the situation in full. And we need to make sure that Facebook doesn’t backtrack on their original decision to indefinitely ban Trump. We must keep up the pressure. Facebook needs to create clear policies around permanently banning individuals and groups that support white supremacy and harm Black and brown communities — individuals like Trump. This is not just about Trump’s past behaviors, but also to prevent future human rights violations that he may spark from his extensive supporter base. #StopTheSteal didn’t come from nowhere, and who knows what’s coming next. He’s sown too much hate, disinformation, and violence to be granted access to Facebook again. On day one he’ll likely lift up some new racist, conspiracy theory. At a minimum, his mere presence back on Facebook will be a rallying cry to his followers. Sign the petition telling Facebook: Keep the permanent ban on Donald Trump.
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  • Tell Airbnb: Get anti-vaccine hosts off platform
    Airbnb has joined other digital platforms in allowing COVID-19 misinformation to spread without an effective plan to stop it. Months ago, after a guest exposed a cabin rental listing in Montana which had a “no vaccinated guests” policy, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky vowed to take action to stop hosts from posting conspiracy theories and myths that could endanger public health.¹ Since then, amid a 52% increase in bookings on Airbnb due to the slowing of the pandemic, Chesky has done little to stop hosts from spreading dangerous COVID-19 misinformation.² He’s chosen a path similar to other large platforms like Twitter and Facebook, both of which have taken fairly slow steps to suspend accounts that actively spread misinformation about COVID-19. People in the U.S. are traveling again because of the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the vast majority — close to 99% — of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are of unvaccinated people.³ And, as the highly contagious Delta variant spark a new outbreak, the head of the CDC warns that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”⁴ The last thing we need is for Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodations provider,⁵ to give anti-vaxxer hosts a platform. They are putting our public health in danger. Airbnb needs to tighten up their platform rules and immediately remove misinformation about the vaccine — and the hosts who believe conspiracy theories and misinformation that contribute to the spread of COVID-19. Sign the petition to let Brian Chesky know that he must immediately locate and remove hosts who spew anti-vaccine conspiracies. Sources: 1.”Airbnb CEO on vaccine misinformation: 'We are willing to take responsibility and take action if we have to,’” Yahoo Finance, May 25, 2021 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-coronavirus-vaccine-misinformation-221751171.html 2. “Airbnb Bookings Up 52% | Post-Vaccination Surge?” Tech Times, May 14, 2021 https://www.techtimes.com/articles/260233/20210514/airbnb-bookings-up-52-post-vaccination-surge.htm 3. “Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated,” AP, June 29, 2021 https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-941fcf43d9731c76c16e7354f5d5e187 4. “C.D.C. Director Warns of a ‘Pandemic of the Unvaccinated,’” The New York Times, July 20, 2021 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/health/covid-delta-cdc-walensky.html 5. “Airbnb's Total Worldwide Listings Is More Than the Top 5 Hotel Brands Combined,” Business Insider, August 10, 2017 https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-total-worldwide-listings-2017-8
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  • Tell Google we need answers on why they aren’t updating their maps of Palestine
    Google’s censorship of high-resolution maps in Israel-occupied Palestinian territories hinders the ability of humanitarian and human rights groups from documenting home demolitions, settlement growth, and land loss. In Gaza, it’s preventing accuracy in documenting war crimes and human rights violations.[1] Google is inconsistently applying their own internal rules on mapping. In other conflict areas, such as eastern Ukraine, Google responsively and quickly put up new imagery on Google Earth. When it comes to Gaza though, Google has had access to high-resolution maps for over a year. But even during an active bombing campaign, where over 200 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and infrastructure like a building housing journalists is destroyed, Google isn’t updating to high-res maps.[2] Google Maps has access to new imagery that would replace the blurry maps they have with updated ones. But so far they have sat on their hands, even though obscure, outdated laws that prevented these updates have been reversed for over a year. [1] It’s moments like these that reinforce tech is not neutral. By failing to consistently apply their policies Google and its Google Maps platform is helping to hide human rights abuses. But this isn’t new for Google. For some Palestinian digital rights activists, the slowness to update Gaza maps is a continuation of Google’s unequal handling of Palestine mapping overall. 7amleh, a digital rights group in Ramallah, asserts that the unequal mapping of Palestine is a human rights issue. Google Maps rarely includes the names of Palestinian areas unrecognized by Israel, yet has no problem including the names and locations of Israeli settlements. The maps don’t show roadblocks and checkpoints — resulting in Google Map routes that are useful only for Israelis and can be dangerous for Palestinians.[3] Sign our petition to demand that Google provide an answer for its inconsistent policy that prevents a better view of Gaza to allow researchers, activists, and the media access to high-resolution maps. Sources: 1. “Israel Can’t Hide Evidence of Its Occupation Anymore,” Foreign Policy, August 3, 2020. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/03/israel-cant-hide-evidence-of-its-occupation-anymore/ 2. “Google Won't Say If It Will Update Its Blurry Maps of Gaza,” Motherboard, Tech by VICE, May 17, 2021. https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7evkn/google-maps-gaza-israel 3. Google Maps’ Endangering Palestinian Human Rights, 7amleh, September 18, 2018. https://7amleh.org/2018/09/18/google-maps-endangering-palestinian-human-rights
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  • Tell Nextdoor: Cut ties with police
    Nextdoor, an app that connects more than 200,000 neighborhoods across several countries to share real-time information and concerns, has a racism problem. Since its launch in 2012, Nextdoor has enabled racial profiling, everything from moderators censoring posts about racial injustice after the police murder of George Floyd to white users warning about Black men offering to mow neighbor’s lawns. In addition, Nextdoor has partnerships with law enforcement. [1] Users are encouraged by other members and Nextdoor itself to communicate with police through direct messages in the app. Nextdoor’s connection to police makes it easy for a community’s racism problem to turn into off-platform police violence against Black and brown people. Nextdoor has yet to show how many police departments are on the app or any proof that Nextdoor’s executive leadership has thought through the harms of police partnerships. We’re demanding that Nextdoor be transparent about their relationship with police, strictly enforce hate speech policies, and above all -- cancel police partnerships. Nextdoor has been feeling the pressure already. Will you add your name to this petition to tell Nextdoor: Cut ties with police? Nextdoor may not actively promote white supremacy, but pretending that their platform is neutral allows racism to thrive. It’s been well-documented that users perpetuate dangerous and violent narratives about people of color. [2] Nextdoor has responded to these issues by apologizing to Black and brown users, promising to roll out anti-bias training for moderators, and trying to recruit more people of color to join the app and Nextdoor’s staff. [3] That’s not enough. Nextdoor must do more to actively protect Black and brown communities from being harmed because of their platform. To have real impact on the safety of community members, Nextdoor has to end its partnerships with police. We cannot let a tech company decide the fate of people’s lives. Tell Nextdoor to end their partnerships with police departments now. Sources: 1. “Nextdoor's Delicate Partnership With Local Police,” Bloomberg, May 21, 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-21/nextdoor-s-delicate-partnership-with-local-police 2. “Inside Nextdoor's 'Karen problem',” The Verge, June 8, 2020. https://www.theverge.com/21283993/nextdoor-app-racism-community-moderation-guidance-protests 3. “Nextdoor Will Offer Bias Training To App Moderators To Combat Racism,” NPR, July 1, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/886147665/it-s-our-fault-nextdoor-ceo-takes-blame-for-censorship-of-black-lives-matter-pos
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  • Tell Congress: Ban ShotSpotter sales to police
    In Chicago, ShotSpotter allegedly detected eight gunshots near 13-year-old Adam Toledo on March 29. ShotSpotter put police on high alert and within five minutes, police had pursued, shot, and killed Adam Toledo.[1] Police already criminalize and harm Black and brown people, and they don’t need tech assistance to do it more often. ShotSpotter technology allegedly detects gunshots. But in densely populated neighborhoods, where many Black and brown people live, it produces a high percentage of false alerts. In a six-month study in Chicago, the MacArthur Justice Center found that over 85% of the time, ShotSpotter did not lead to evidence of reportable incidents or crimes. They found that ShotSpotter is “wasteful, alienating for community members, and generates intolerable risks of avoidable harms.”[2] ShotSpotter increases the threat of police shootings by unnecessarily bringing police into confrontations with Black and brown people. The faulty technology, marketed heavily to police departments with free six-month trials, is currently used in more than 100 U.S. cities.[3] With a $33 million contract, the Chicago Police Department is their largest client. Adam Toledo should be alive today. Congress needs to take action to take out tech that reinforces racist policing — they should ban ShotSpotter use by police. Sources: 1. ”Police technology under scrutiny following Chicago shooting,” The Hill, April, 21, 2021. 2. “Chicago Awaits Video Of Police Killing Of 13-Year-Old Boy,” The Intercept, April 13, 2021. 3. “ShotSpotter Cities,” ShotSpotter Website, April 23, 2021.
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