Protect Global Elections
We demand that Big Tech "break the glass" and protect 2024 global elections
Protect Global Elections
We demand that Big Tech “break the glass” and protect 2024 global elections
OUR DEMANDS
We are taking the fight to platforms, building on our success from 2020 to name and shame the electoral harms. We’re also working to sound the alarm for social media users, and engaging selectively in policy work if we can be an additive presence. We call on Meta specifically, and all social media platforms to “break glass” and urgently take the following steps to protect the integrity of the 2024 elections:
STOP DEEP FAKES: Require disclosure of AI-generated political content, including ads, prohibiting the use of deepfakes in political ads, algorithmically promoting factual elections content, and ensuring that any generative AI products have usage policies around election-related content are supported by adequate trust and safety features, monitoring, and enforcement teams for both first and third-party usage;
STAFF UP: Invest in greater platform integrity, by reinstating election-integrity policies, inclusive of moderating content around the Big Lie, and staffing up critical platform integrity teams to ensure more efficient enforcement across languages;
ENFORCE YOUR RULES: To the extent your company permits political advertising, swiftly enforce rules against election lies and hate in political advertising, requiring human review of political advertising, with enhanced scrutiny and labeling of ads containing generative AI;
LEVEL THE FIELD: Hold influencer, public figure, and political candidate accounts to the same moderation and enforcement standards as everyone else; and
BE TRANSPARENT: Improve transparency and enable civil society oversight of enforcement practices by regularly sharing virality and enforcement reports, disclosing which AI tools and models your platform uses to evaluate and moderate content and the data they are trained on, and ensuring reliable access to data tools that researchers and journalists use to study your platforms in a timely manner.
OUR GLOBAL CAMPAIGNS
Big Tech’s Role in the 2024 Indian General Elections
Big Tech’s Role in the 2024 European Union Elections
TRACK OUR IMPACT
“Hundreds of groups urge Big Tech CEOs to step up fight against AI-fueled lies”
On Tuesday, April 9th, 2024, the Real Facebook Oversight Board, along with more than 200 civil-society organizations, researchers & journalists have sent a letter to the top executives of leading social-media platforms calling on them to protect democratic elections worldwide in 2024.
We made six demands.
“Activists create ‘crime scene’ before Meta’s London HQ protesting its complicity in hate crimes”
On Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, our journalists reported live from London where Indian and British-Indian activists, partnered with The London Story, The Citizens and People Vs Big Tech, declared Meta’s Headquarters a crime scene for the company’s “crimes against democracy.”
Protestors demanded that Meta stops profiting off hate, and puts democracy first.
WHY 2024?
Two billion people are going to the polls this year, with major elections in the US, UK, India and 60 other countries. More people will vote this year than at any time in recorded history. In spite of this, Meta and Twitter in particular have slashed their election integrity teams, and wide-scale election disinformation is happening now across platforms.
This is occurring at the same time as AI, Deep Fakes and altered digital content are taking off. It’s been argued that the recent Slovakian election was swung by deepfakes, while the US and UK have already experienced moments of crisis and confusion around election-related AI content. This is a grave threat to elections in this “Year of Democracy.” But as we have seen before, Big Tech can act when forced to, and there are measures that can be put in place that can mitigate this risk and unmask the Deep Fake election for what it is.
Organisations and the tech accountability community are speaking out. But few are sounding the 5-alarm fire needed to rattle and engage the public. The Real Facebook Oversight Board and The Citizens is leveraging our members, creative campaigning, digital platforms and a nimble approach to sound the alarm about Big Tech’s failure to safeguard elections, and the “break glass” steps that can be taken to safeguard elections and democracy worldwide.
Why us? We’re able to speak out in bolder and punchier ways than organisations with more institutional constraints. And we have demonstrated an ability to break through the noise. We also have a wide community of journalists, researchers, filmmakers, and cultural leaders to leverage against Big Tech.
“If you don’t have integrity of facts, you cannot have integrity of elections. This is a critical moment to redesign your surveillance for profit model that has been hijacked by authoritarians around the world. Protect our public information ecosystem by returning agency back to voters around the world during this crucial year.”
— Maria Ressa, Nobel Laureate & Founding Member of the Real Facebook Oversight Board
ON OUR WATCH
| COUNTRY | DATE | TYPE |
|---|---|---|
| India | April 19 — June 1, 2024 | General Election |
| South Africa | May 29, 2024 | General Election |
| Mexico | June 2, 2024 | General Election |
| European Union | June 6 — June 9, 2024 | Parliament Election |
| United States | November 5, 2024 | Presidential Election |