May 17, 2022
A Statement by Brenda V. Castillo, President & CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) has long warned about rampant hate, extremism, and disinformation infesting Meta’s Facebook platform. This past weekend, a white supremacist opened fire at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, targeting the local Black community due to his online radicalization.
Reminiscent of the El Paso Massacre in 2019, the Buffalo shooter posted his manifesto on social media with the intent to live forever on the internet and inspire others. This recent attack is another example of how unchecked online hate and extremism lead to real-world violence. On Facebook, the risks to marginalized communities, such as Latinx, are due to poor management and lack of leadership at the hands of Mark Zuckerberg.
As the CEO and Chair of Facebook’s Board, who holds
around 58% of the voting shares, Mark has the final say in every critical decision of Meta. Thus, NHMC is glad to join the #MakeMarkListen campaign to urge Facebook’s shareholders to mandate an independent audit of the risks on the platform and the current capacity and performance of Meta’s Audit and Risk Oversight Committee.
Facebook’s disproportionate prioritization of the English language in its content moderation enforcement has led to the targeting of historically marginalized communities through hate and disinformation on the platform. A recent
Nielsen report showed Latino audiences are more likely to receive, consume, and share fake news online than the general population. The Latino community is more vulnerable to disinformation due to a greater reliance on social media.
This blatant neglect of the dangers posed to non-English speaking users and communities of color, such as Latinx, is due to Mark’s willful ignorance of the many threats placing users and consumers at risk. Adding the loss of general public trust and abysmal leadership to Meta’s growing list of malpractices, NHMC calls for shareholders to vote for
Proposals 9 and 14.NHMC demands that Facebook provide equitable content moderation to Spanish and other non-English content to ensure all users have a safe experience while on the platform. We must know the extent of the problem, including previous errors and the neglect of risks to users on the platform. Therefore we urge Facebook’s shareholders to #MakeMarkListen to protect all its users from the dangers of hate, extremism, and disinformation in all languages.
Yours in the Movement,
Brenda Victoria Castillo
President & CEO
National Hispanic Media Coalition
