21 US Lawmakers Concerned About Facebook's Efforts To Tackle Disinformation In Spanish

Senator Amy Klobuchar, concerned about Facebook's perceived lack of seriousness. (photo; twitter @amyklobuchar)

JAKARTA - A group of 21 members of the US lawmakers, on Wednesday, April 20, sent a letter to the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. They voiced concerns about what they called disinformation on platforms aimed at Spanish speakers about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The letter was signed by seven senators and 14 representatives. Many of them are from states like California and New York with significant Spanish-speaking populations.

This disinformation was spread by, among other things, Moscow-backed news outlets such as RT en Espanol. The signing of the letter was between Senators Amy Klobuchar and Ben Ray Lujan and Representative, Tony Cardenas and 18 others.

"Facebook has persistently failed to demonstrate that it is addressing this issue adequately for the Spanish-speaking community, and the success of the Russian-sponsored outlet in catering to an information ecosystem for Spanish speakers serves as testament to this fact," the lawmaker wrote.

"The spread of the virus from this narrative stands in stark contrast to the assurances Meta made to the public and Members of Congress that it prioritizes the immediate needs of the Hispanic community in the United States," the letter said.

Facebook, now called Meta Platforms Inc., said in a statement that it was still working to stop disinformation in Spanish.

"We remove content related to the war in Ukraine that violates our policies, and work closely with third-party fact-checkers to debunk false claims. When they judge something as false, we take this content down in the feed so that fewer people see it," a spokesperson said. Facebook, Kevin McAlister.

It also said that Facebook had also "applied labels to publishers of state-controlled media, including those cited in the letter."

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