Prevent Political Disinformation on Facebook, Starting with Memes

The Issue

A 3 minute case on this issue is laid out here: Medium.com

Facebook’s campaign against false news is directed towards websites that claim to be news sources but are in fact not. The problem is, disinformation takes many forms, and while Facebook makes progress on one front, images with a text overlay designed to divide and mislead make progress on another. If the intent is to limit the spread of false narratives on social media, then these extremely common and increasingly divisive mediums need to be prohibited until a better, technological solution becomes more effective. Not to mention, many false posts call for a “take pic and repost!!!”, defeating targeted approaches to combat disinformation. And quite frankly, Facebook is not doing enough. Let’s give them a hand.

I am proposing Facebook enacts a policy change to prohibit images on Facebook with a text overlay.

Yes, this is an end to the occasionally enjoyable meme on Facebook. Yes, it is drastic. But the strength and sanctity of our democracy depends on it. Outside America, Facebook disinformation is causing political violence, to include murder. You have to do something. 

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The Issue

A 3 minute case on this issue is laid out here: Medium.com

Facebook’s campaign against false news is directed towards websites that claim to be news sources but are in fact not. The problem is, disinformation takes many forms, and while Facebook makes progress on one front, images with a text overlay designed to divide and mislead make progress on another. If the intent is to limit the spread of false narratives on social media, then these extremely common and increasingly divisive mediums need to be prohibited until a better, technological solution becomes more effective. Not to mention, many false posts call for a “take pic and repost!!!”, defeating targeted approaches to combat disinformation. And quite frankly, Facebook is not doing enough. Let’s give them a hand.

I am proposing Facebook enacts a policy change to prohibit images on Facebook with a text overlay.

Yes, this is an end to the occasionally enjoyable meme on Facebook. Yes, it is drastic. But the strength and sanctity of our democracy depends on it. Outside America, Facebook disinformation is causing political violence, to include murder. You have to do something. 

The Decision Makers

Mark Zuckerberg
Founder and CEO at Facebook

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