Friend,

Big Tobacco. Big Tech. What do they have in common? Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has sounded the alarm on both.

The surgeon general just issued an advisory declaring online misinformation dangerous to our health, likening it to a pollutant that has contaminated our information environment.¹

This is unprecedented. Our country’s top medical authority has just used his platform to declare that misinformation about COVID-19 and other health issues is toxic. And if the government doesn’t take action to rein in Big Tech’s targeted spread of lies, the dangers will only grow.

Tell your members of Congress to support the Algorithmic Justice and Online Transparency Act to stop lethal misinformation from spreading on social media.

This legislation provides the long-overdue transparency and accountability that we need to enact the surgeon general’s recommendations — and will expose the ways that powerful tech platforms extract our demographic and behavioral data. The bill would help combat civil-rights harms by preventing the discriminatory use of personal information. And it would establish an interagency task force on algorithmic processes and set a safety-and-effectiveness standard for algorithms.

It’s time for Congress to pass the Algorithmic Justice and Online Transparency Act.

Like Big Tobacco companies, Big Tech platforms continually put profits over the health and safety of their users. We cannot wait any longer for action.

Thanks for all that you do—

Candace, Rose and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net

P.S. The surgeon general just released a report that captures how lethal online misinformation can be. It’s time for Congress to act: Urge lawmakers to pass the Algorithmic Justice and Online Transparency Act.

1. "Surgeon General's Warning on the Health Dangers of Misinformation Must Prompt Congress to Hold Platforms Accountable, Says Free Press Action," Free Press Action, July 15, 2021