Why Facebook's Future Matters for Muslims
By Hoda Hawa
MPAC
Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrived in Washington for a series of meetings and hearings on Capitol Hill. The primary topic of conversation was the deeply concerning misuse of personal data for millions of users by third-party company Cambridge Analytica.
Beyond those privacy issues, however, is another important aspect that was only lightly discussed and which should especially concern us: Facebook and other social media platforms are regularly misused by bigots and foreign actors to attack Muslims and other marginalized communities. And given that even Senators often betray a lack of basic knowledge when it comes to how Facebook actually works, it's more important than ever that we educate ourselves and work proactively to improve these platforms for all users.
Last September, news broke that Russia's meddling in our 2016 elections was even more sophisticated than initially thought. Particularly disturbing was the revelation that Russians used Facebook ads to target marginalized communities and increase conflict along racial and religious lines. This includes the creation of fake pages masquerading as legitimate American Muslim organizations, incensing conservative voters by highlighting Muslim women's support for Hillary Clinton, and even organizing real world fake rallies complete with fake counter protests. It's disturbing enough that a foreign government became so inextricably meddlesome in our democracy that it directly influenced the outcome of our elections, it's even more egregious that they did so by preying on communities that already bear the brunt of white supremacy, bigotry, and xenophobia.
In addition to the armies of fake accounts and pages that Russia propagated on Facebook, we've also seen a disturbing trend of hate groups who are all too real using social media platforms to organize and spread their malice. As just one example, ACT for America and its founder Brigitte Gabriel continue to have active Facebook presences, despite being named as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. As other organizations, including Muslim Advocates, have noted, there are dozens more self-proclaimed and unambiguously hateful pages with thousands of followers. For them, Facebook becomes a useful one-stop platform for spreading false and fear-mongering information about minority communities, cyber-bullying individuals, and organizing real world events to spread hate and even launch outright criminal actions.
Along with a diverse group of community and advocacy organizations, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has had the opportunity to meet regularly with Facebook to discuss these concerns and work on proactive solutions to make the platform empowering rather than targeting of our communities. We have joined our colleagues in urging that the company fundamentally address the way both fake profiles and real hate groups use the social network to prey upon our communities, and have stressed that such a task can only be accomplished through direct partnership and representation of those who are most directly affected. We have also expressed our willingness to work with the company to better identify problematic content, outright hate speech and patterns of anti-Muslim activities that Facebook's staff may be less intuitively prepared to recognize.
Finally, no matter what steps Facebook takes to reduce the presence of hate groups and foreign actors on its platform, it can’t delete the underlying hate itself, particularly when bigoted users often cast their actions as protected free speech. In addition to combating hate speech, therefore, we also urge social media platforms and our own community to work closely together to better amplify our own voices. Russians and anti-Muslim extremists alike have demonstrated a far more sophisticated understanding of how to use these platforms to spread their messages and create real social impact. We ought to be able to do the same.
Facebook, to its credit, has often demonstrated support for our community. When President Trump unveiled his Muslim ban last year, COO Sheryl Sandberg spoke forcefully against the move, saying that it defied “the heart and values that define the best of our nation.” And in 2015, in the midst of Muslim ban rabble rousing, Zuckerberg wrote directly to Muslims to offer his solidarity and pledged to “fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment.”As Facebook thinks deeply about its future and the responsibility it has to its 2 billion users (both real and fake), we hope its leadership will follow through on their own words and work with us to create a better platform for all.
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