Tell Congress: Pass H.R. 4813 Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act

Petition to Congress: "Pass H.R. 4813, the Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act."` Add your name:

Mark Zuckerberg's recent testimony on Capitol Hill was a disaster. Lawmakers grilled Zuckerberg over the company's repeated privacy violations, the despicable content on its platform and its policy of allowing outright falsehoods in political ads.1 In addition to all that's already horrible, lawmakers also wanted to talk about an emerging Facebook disaster – its Libra project. Libra, like Bitcoin, is a cryptocurrency, but one under Facebook's control. In typically Zuckerbook fashion, he insisted last week that Libra should not be regulated like a bank or by the Securities and Exchange Commission.2 Zuckerberg wants Facebook to control a global currency with no oversight and no questions asked, even though his company repeatedly mishandles our private information. That's unacceptable, and Rep. Chuy García just introduced legislation that would put a stop to it. Tell Congress: Keep Big Tech out of banking. Click here to sign the petition. Facebook is currently under investigation by 47 state attorneys general and regulators in multiple nations. It recently paid a record-breaking $5 billion fine for privacy violations that allowed a right-wing firm to help sway the 2016 election. It lied to advertisers about video metrics, lied to Congress in testimony and lied about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook has created a safe haven for white nationalism, right-wing hatred, racism, misogyny, ethnic supremacism and fake news that fosters violence worldwide. And now Zuckerberg is saying: Trust us.3,4 As Rep. García put it, "Given Facebook’s track record of evading criminal liability, abusing private data, and manipulating markets with their monopolistic power, regulators should be considering how to break up Facebook, not greenlighting a new, dangerous project like Libra."5 Libra would:6 Centralize corporate control by giving Facebook more power, undermining sovereign states and giving the corporate interests behind the project the ability to distort global currencies or undermine governments at will. Promote tax dodging and money laundering by making it easier for people to hide their money in a new network with global reach. Erode freedom with no clear limits on Facebook's ability to use data from Libra purchases, bake racist discrimination into its algorithms, change the rules in the future or demand that employees take payment in currency it controls. Put consumers at risk with none of the guarantees, oversight and protections found in traditional banking. Libra is already under pressure, with a handful of major partners dropping out even before Zuckerberg's testimony. But at a time when Big Tech is increasingly looking for ways to expand its monopolistic power and use vast reams of data to move into finance, we need a more thoughtful response. Rep. García's legislation, the Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act, would prohibit Facebook and other big tech companies from preying on us with digital currencies – and we need to make sure every member of Congress knows it has our support. Click the link below to tell Congress: Keep Big Tech out of banking: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/libra-garcia?t=9&akid=34676%2E3130208%2Ee0BljK - Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: John Constine, "Lowlights from Zuckerberg’s Libra testimony in Congress," TechCrunch, Oct. 23, 2019. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, "Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García Introduces Bill to Keep Big Tech Companies Out of Financial Sector," Oct. 23, 2019. Cecilia Kang, Mike Isaac and Nathaniel Popper, "Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Accused of Lying, Withstands a Washington ‘Beating,’" The New York Times, Oct. 23, 2019. Tony Romm, "Facebook will have to pay a record-breaking fine for violating users’ privacy. But the FTC wanted more." The Washington Post, July 22, 2019. Rep. García, "Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García Introduces Bill to Keep Big Tech Companies Out of Financial Sector." Public Citizen et. al., "Open Letter Calling for Libra Moratorium," July 2, 2019.

Tell Facebook: Stop giving border militias a platform for their hate

The petition to Facebook reads: "Ban United Constitutional Patriots from your platform." Add your name:

A heavily armed vigilante militia is patrolling the New Mexico border and detaining immigrants at gunpoint.1 The United Constitutional Patriots is a known racist organization and fascist militia. Its members are using Facebook to post brazen videos of its criminal activity to recruit new members, and raise money. That is unacceptable. UCP's videos are not just vile and racist, they also violate several Facebook policies on publicizing a crime, coordinating harm and promoting violence or graphic content.2 Thanks to the activism of our friends at the Change the Terms coalition, Facebook just announced it would take down UCP videos that violate company policy and remove the hate group from its fundraising platform3 but, that is not enough. Facebook must ban UCP. Tell Facebook: Stop giving fascist border militias a platform for their hate. Click here to sign the petition. This isn't the first time racists have used Facebook to recruit members and raise money. In 2017, the Proud Boys, a paramilitary white nationalist hate group, used the platform to organize the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that incited lethal violence. It took nearly two years after Charlottesville for Facebook to announce a plan to combat hate. It recently committed to banning white nationalists and separatists from its platform.4 But Facebook is clearly having trouble keeping its commitment. Several of UCP's brutal videos were available for the public to view for weeks and the group's page is still active. The FBI recently arrested UCP leader Johnny Horton for being a felon in possession of a firearm.5 Horton and his comrades claim that UCP works in coordination with Trump's Border Patrol, call immigrants "invaders" and believe that many are terrorists associated with ISIS. It uses Facebook to build its army, incite violence against immigrants, and raise money to purchase food, propane and allegedly weapons.6  UCP's Facebook followers have more than doubled since it posted videos of its members rounding up hundreds of immigrants and holding them at gunpoint. We must make clear to Facebook that enabling and giving a megaphone to violent, lawless racists is unacceptable. PayPal and GoFundMe have already removed UCP from their platforms.7 Add your name now to demand that Facebook follow their leads. Tell Facebook: Stop giving fascist border militias a platform for their hate. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/facebook-drop-ucp?t=9&akid=32387%2E3130208%2E7uSrku - Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action  Add your name: References: Pema Levy and Tonya Riley, "Human Rights Activists Say These Videos Show Violent Kidnappings—And Facebook Isn’t Taking Them Down," Mother Jones, April 24, 2019. Bryan Menegus, "New Mexico armed border group barred from Facebook fund-raising," Gizmodo, April 24, 2018. Andrew Hay, "FBI arrests leader of armed group stopping migrants in New Mexico," Reuters, April 26, 2019. Liam Stack, "Facebook Announces New Policy to Ban White Nationalist Content," The New York Times, March 27, 2019. Andrew Hay, "FBI arrests leader of armed group stopping migrants in New Mexico," Reuters, April 20, 2019. Salvador Hernandez and Adolfo Flores, "'They Killed Us': Crowdfunding Sites Have Cut Off An Armed Militia Detaining Migrants At The Border," Buzzfeed News, April 22, 2019. Ibid.