5,000 signatures reached
To: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Don’t let Trump exploit this dangerous Facebook loophole
Donald Trump is exploiting a loophole that lets him evade Facebook’s enforcement decisions. Despite the current two-year ban on his account, Facebook is allowing the “Team Trump” page -- operated by Trump’s Save America PAC -- to run political ads that may as well be messages from Trump himself.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team cannot look the other way and continue to profit from disinformation and other harmful content while Trump abuses their platform to undermine our democracy. They must tighten their content moderation policies and close this loophole immediately.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team cannot look the other way and continue to profit from disinformation and other harmful content while Trump abuses their platform to undermine our democracy. They must tighten their content moderation policies and close this loophole immediately.
Why is this important?
If Facebook determined that Donald Trump's spread of conspiracy theories was so harmful that his Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended for two years -- why can he keep using the PACs he controls to share content on these platforms?
That’s right -- Trump may not be able to post on Facebook using his account, but he has found a massive loophole to exploit: using political committees under his control to post content. And unless we speak out, Facebook may continue to let him get away with it.
Here’s what’s going on: Trump’s political action committee -- the Save America PAC -- has been running ads inviting Facebook users to attend Trump rallies, donate to Trump’s political efforts, and more. Facebook is trying to claim that this doesn’t violate Trump’s suspension, so long as the ads are not being posted in Trump’s “voice.”
But Facebook’s policy is extremely vague and not rooted in any campaign finance law -- and Trump is taking advantage. In reality, all communications disseminated by this PAC, which Trump established and controls, are unquestionably in his voice.
Allowing Trump to exploit this loophole only signals to other violators of Facebook’s policies that they too can evade enforcement actions by using a different page run by a political committee or political entity under their control.
If Facebook really wants to combat voter suppression and stop online hate, it must close this dangerous gap in its policies. That means subjecting any Facebook pages run by a political committee that’s established, financed, maintained, or controlled by an individual to the same content moderation decisions as that individual’s Facebook account. If you agree, add your name today.
That’s right -- Trump may not be able to post on Facebook using his account, but he has found a massive loophole to exploit: using political committees under his control to post content. And unless we speak out, Facebook may continue to let him get away with it.
Here’s what’s going on: Trump’s political action committee -- the Save America PAC -- has been running ads inviting Facebook users to attend Trump rallies, donate to Trump’s political efforts, and more. Facebook is trying to claim that this doesn’t violate Trump’s suspension, so long as the ads are not being posted in Trump’s “voice.”
But Facebook’s policy is extremely vague and not rooted in any campaign finance law -- and Trump is taking advantage. In reality, all communications disseminated by this PAC, which Trump established and controls, are unquestionably in his voice.
Allowing Trump to exploit this loophole only signals to other violators of Facebook’s policies that they too can evade enforcement actions by using a different page run by a political committee or political entity under their control.
If Facebook really wants to combat voter suppression and stop online hate, it must close this dangerous gap in its policies. That means subjecting any Facebook pages run by a political committee that’s established, financed, maintained, or controlled by an individual to the same content moderation decisions as that individual’s Facebook account. If you agree, add your name today.