Dear Mark Zuckerberg,
Voting has already begun in one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history. More than ever before in American politics, the members of the public need to know who is trying to influence them and how.
Yet at this critical moment for the country, Facebook has threatened to shut down an independent research effort studying political ad targeting on the platform. In a cease + desist letter, Facebook directed New York University to shut down its Ad Observer browser plug-in, a tool that allows Facebook users to volunteer to contribute information about the ads and ad targeting they encounter on the platform. Facebook also demanded that the project delete all the data it has collected.
Ad Observer allows journalists and researchers to better understand the political misinformation and manipulation that spreads daily on your platform. It has been a resource for substantive reporting on the upcoming election, used by dozens of newsrooms, from Florida to Utah, from outlets like the Houston Chronicle and Missouri Independent to Buzzfeed and The Markup.
Facebook claims its motive for threatening Ad Observer is that browser plugins and extensions, like Ad Observer, could violate Facebook users’ privacy. But Ad Observer only collects information about the ads people see, not personal posts or users’ personal information. What is true is that the Ad Observatory project has revealed serious flaws in Facebook’s advertising transparency policies. The Ad Observatory project helped researchers and journalists demonstrate that Facebook:
- Routinely fails to include political ads in the Facebook Ad Library;
- Allows political campaigns to use targeting in manipulative ways to reach voters;
- Provides confusing and contradictory information on how much is being spent on political ads;
- Provides ways for foreign governments to reach U.S. voters with manipulative content;
- Gives opportunities for dark money groups across the political spectrum to use Facebook to spread misleading messages;
- Still sells discriminatory ads — despite promising to stop after a lawsuit from civil rights groups.
Facebook professes to be dedicated to advertising transparency. But its actions against Ad Observatory are part of a record revealing otherwise. Ahead of the EU elections last year, Facebook blocked similar tools, which were also designed to address similar gaps and flaws in Facebook’s Ad Library.
Preserving a healthy democracy requires that the public, journalists and policymakers have access to credible, verifiable information and research. Facebook and all other platforms should stop interfering with researchers and journalists who are studying the platform in the public interest.
We call on Facebook to withdraw its cease and desist demand for the Ad Observer plug-in tool.
Instead, Facebook should use the findings from Ad Observer and other monitoring tools to improve political ad transparency, including Facebook’s own tool which The New York Times has dubbed “effectively useless.” Indeed, Facebook along with other platforms should publicly disclose advertising on their platforms, including ad spending and targeting.
The world is watching. Facebook must do better.
Signed,
Access Now
Accountable Tech
AI Now Institute at NYU
American Press Institute
Arab American Institute (AAI)
ARTICLE 19
Association of Alternative Newsmedia
Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Center for American Progress Action Fund
Center for Democracy and Technology
Center for Digital Democracy
Colorado Media Project
Colorado News Collaborative
Common Cause
Common Sense Media
Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Reports
Data & Society
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Fight for the Future
Free Press
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism
Global Witness
Harmony Labs
Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics at George Washington University
Institute for Nonprofit News
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
International Women’s Media Foundation
Internet Archive
Maplight
The Markup
MediaJustice
Mother Jones
Mozilla Foundation
National Conference on Citizenship
National Hispanic Media Coalition
New America’s Open Technology Institute
New Mexico Local News Fund
North Carolina Local News Lab Fund
NYC Media Lab
Online News Association
Open Media and Information Companies Initiative (OPEN MIC)
Open the Government
PEN America
Public Knowledge
Public News Service
Ranking Digital Rights
Simply Secure
Society of Professional Journalists
Stop Online Violence Against Women Inc.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry
Individual signatories:
Penny Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics, UNC at Chapel Hill
Bill Adair, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy, Duke University
Sarah Cohen, Professor & Knight Chair in Journalism, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism / Arizona State University
Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, Kent State University
Cameron Hickey, Program Director for Algorithmic Transparency, National Conference on Citizenship
Angie Drobnic Holan, PolitiFact Editor-in-Chief
Brant Houston, Professor and Knight Chair in Investigative & Enterprise Reporting, Director of Graduate Studies
Kathy Kiely, Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies, Missouri School of Journalism
Damon Kiesow, Knight Chair in Digital Editing and Producing, Missouri School of Journalism
Jodi Upton, Knight Chair, Data and Exploratory Journalism Newhouse School, Syracuse University
Claire Wardle, First Draft News
Stephen Wolgast, Professor and Knight Chair in Investigative & Enterprise Reporting
Giannina Segnini, Knight Chair in Data Journalism; Director of the Data Journalism Degree, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University
Matthew Wright, Professor of Computing Security and Director of Research for the Global Cybersecurity Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology
Kristy Roschke, Managing Director, News Co/Lab, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University
Dan Gillmor, Director, News Co/Lab and Professor of Practice, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University
Mindy McAdams, Knight Chair for Journalism Technologies and the Democratic Process, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida
Sabriya Rice, Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism, UGA College of Journalism & Mass Communication
John Affleck, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn State University
Dana Priest, Knight Chair in Public Affairs Journalism, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland
Sarah T. Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-Director, UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry
Safiya Umoja Noble, Co-Founder and Co-Director, UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry
Amelia Acker, Assistant Professor, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin
Aleksandra Korolova, WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Southern California
Mark Horvit, Director, State Government Reporting Program, University of Missouri School of Journalism
Shannon McGregor, Assistant Professor, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, UNC
Lynn Schofield Clark, Professor, Chair & Director, Estlow Center for Journalism & New Media, Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies, University of Denver
Rosental Alves, Professor, Knight Chair in Journalism & UNESCO Chair in Communication, Knight Center Director, University of Texas at Austin
Jumana Abu-Ghazaleh, Founder, Pivot For Humanity
Please email [email protected] if you're interested in adding your support to this letter.