Open Technology Institute is declining further funding from Facebook

As the country confronts its long, deeply rooted history of racism, we must all acknowledge our own role in racist systems and make changes to ensure we are part of the solution, rather than the problem. With over 2.6 billion users, Facebook has a clear responsibility to reckon with its role in these systems or risk continuing to facilitate oppression that imperils Black lives. Despite repeated calls to action from inside and outside the company, Facebook has long struggled with this responsibility. It has suspended the accounts of Black users and removed their content while permitting racist content from white supremacist groups. Civil rights groups like The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Color of Change have worked tirelessly to push Facebook to reform its policies around online speech that incites real world violence, encourages voter suppression, and spreads disinformation meant to disenfranchise communities of color on the platform. Nevertheless, last week Facebook’s leadership doubled down in defense of the decision to allow posts from the President that included calls to violence and false information about primary elections. While Facebook has suggested it may revisit its policies around false and incendiary political speech, the totality of the company’s words, timing, and actions matters. We must do more to hold companies and ourselves accountable. As of today, the Open Technology Institute is declining further funding from Facebook. OTI will continue to engage with the company on a variety of policy issues, and we hope to maintain a constructive dialogue going forward as we work toward meaningful change.