Scientists backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative urge Facebook to take a stronger stand on misinformation and incendiary speech.
Scientists who receive funding from Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropic organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), have urged the Facebook CEO to do more to stem the spread of misinformation and incendiary speech on the social network.
The letter, which is addressed to Zuckerberg from scientists who are currently or were previously backed by CZI, was published on Saturday. The Washington Post first reported the news.
The missive makes the case that Facebook acknowledges in its own user policies that news spreading which is not vetted for factual accuracy can result in “confusion and a mistrust of experts.” The scientists said they were “disconcerted” that Facebook did nothing after President Donald Trump published the statement “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” amid social unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man.
