Maloney Leads Letter Demanding Facebook Crack Down on Pro-Russian Disinformation

Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) led Members of the House Intelligence Committee in sending a letter to Facebook demanding they crack down on pro-Russian disinformation that is threatening further destabilization in Eastern Europe. Rep. Maloney recently returned from a Congressional Delegation to Eastern Europe, where he heard from Slovakian leaders about their struggles combatting pro-Russian disinformation on Facebook. After sending the letter, Rep. Maloney released the following statement.

"Russian disinformation campaigns have targeted and sought to undermine democracies all around the world. While meeting with leaders in Slovakia, I heard first-hand about the threat these disinformation campaigns pose to our allies," said Rep. Maloney. "Facebook can and must do more to prevent their platform from being a tool for criminal dictators like Putin. Today, I led my House Intelligence Committee colleagues in demanding Facebook crack down on these state-led disinformation campaigns and provide the Committee with information and briefings on the issue of disinformation across their platform."

***

Specifically, Rep. Maloney led the Intelligence Committee in requesting a briefing from Facebook on:

• The content the Slovak government has brought to Facebook's attention as harmful disinformation, and the status of that content;
• Any investigation Facebook has undertaken into the actors identified as spreading pro-Russian disinformation about the war on Slovak Facebook, the types of pro-Russian disinformation content spread by those actors and others, and actions taken by Facebook in response;
• Facebook's plan for proactively identifying harmful disinformation in Eastern Europe going forward; and
• The specific number of fact-checkers, personnel, and other resources Facebook will devote to identifying harmful disinformation on the war in Ukraine in Eastern Europe, broken down by country, and including the language capabilities of the fact-checkers and other content moderation personnel.

About the CODEL to Slovakia:

During a congressional delegation to Bratislava, Slovakia in April, members of the Intelligence Committee were briefed by Slovak government officials and civil society groups about the ongoing proliferation of pro-Russian disinformation on Slovak Facebook, spread by a group of identifiable pro-Russian actors during elections, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and now against the backdrop of Vladimir Putin's bloody war in Ukraine. Despite multiple efforts by the Slovak and United States governments to bring the matter to Facebook's attention, to the Committee's knowledge, the company has yet to take appropriate action. And despite pledging to devote "significant resources" to its fact-checking operation in Eastern Europe, public reports indicate Facebook has only one fact-checker dedicated to Slovakia. Facebook has agreed to brief the committee in the coming days.

***

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

In April, Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ("the Committee") traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia, to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. During meetings with the delegation, Slovak government officials and civil society groups described with alarm the substantial pro-Russian, harmful disinformation on Slovak Facebook - a problem which only has grown more acute in recent weeks. Slovak government officials confirmed that they have, on multiple occasions, shared this content with Facebook's staff. And, Facebook staff confirmed to ours that US government officials have also brought the matter to Facebook's attention, but to our knowledge, the company has not yet taken appropriate action. The Committee is deeply concerned by the continued presence of harmful disinformation and pro-Russian propaganda on Slovak Facebook, and urges Facebook immediately to ensure that all pro-Russian disinformation is quickly evaluated, fact-checked, and labeled, downranked, or removed in accordance with Facebook's public pledges and stated policies.'

Facebook is powerful in Slovakia. It is the most widely used social media platform in the country , with approximately 2.7 million active members , or approximately 49 percent of the Slovak population. For many years, a group of identifiable pro-Russian actors repeatedly has spread disinformation on Slovak Facebook, including during elections and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These same, identifiable actors are now weaponizing vast amounts of pro-Russian disinformation about the war in Ukraine.

The Slovak government is rightly troubled by these developments. One senior Slovak defense official described Facebook as "the main arena for Kremlin propaganda." Yet despite Facebook's awareness of the issue, the pervasive and false content seems to remain on Facebook's platform. Moreover, despite Facebook's pledge to provide "significant resources to fact-checkers covering Eastern Europe, public reports suggest that Facebook has only one fact-checker dedicated to Slovakia. That is wildly inadequate given the magnitude of the threat.

In light of Facebook's continued passivity, we request that Facebook by June 1, 2022 brief the Committee on: (1) the content the Slovak government has brought to Facebook's attention as harmful disinformation and the status of that content; (2) any investigation Facebook has undertaken into the actors identified as spreading pro-Russian disinformation about the war on Slovak Facebook, the types of pro-Russian disinformation content spread by those actors and others, and actions taken by Facebook in response; (3) Facebook's plan for proactively identifying harmful disinformation in Eastern Europe going forward; and (4) the specific number of fact-checkers, personnel, and other resources Facebook will devote to identifying harmful disinformation on the war in Ukraine in Eastern Europe, broken down by country, and including the language capabilities of the fact-checkers and other content moderation personnel.

-30-

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.