Friend,

Next week, Facebook’s shareholders will meet to vote on a range of issues. The company’s primary concerns? Approving the board of directors and its accounting firm, and changing the platform’s compensation policies to pay for private security for their directors in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol — an insurrection that Facebook disinformation helped fuel.

Shareholders have filed five crucial proposals that will also be voted on. Those cover issues like how power is distributed at the company, the need to nominate a civil-rights expert to the board, platform misuse and more.

Urge financial institutions to support Facebook shareholder demands.

Financial firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, State Street, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard collectively control about 22 percent of Facebook’s shares. This gives them a critical opportunity to influence the company’s direction. Unfortunately, they’ve often refused to support shareholder proposals that would push the company to improve its practices.

For years Facebook has been buffeted by scandal after scandal. Congress has repeatedly called on the company’s leadership to answer for Facebook's role in spreading hate and disinformation, helping to lay the groundwork for the Jan. 6 insurrection and failing to protect users’ personal data.

Shareholders have submitted five proposals for a vote at the annual meeting. They cover a range of topics, including:

• How power is distributed at the company (Mark Zuckerberg is not only the CEO but also the board chair ... and controls 53 percent of the company’s shares)
• Who holds power at the board level. Echoing the demands of civil-rights groups, shareholders are asking the company to nominate a board member with civil- and human-rights expertise.
• Platform misuse (if Facebook had the tools at its disposal to slow the spread of disinformation around the 2020 U.S. election, why isn’t it doing these things all the time?)
• Recapitalizing the company’s outstanding shares (which would help democratize shareholder votes)

Urge these investment firms to vote FOR the shareholder resolutions that will make Facebook more accountable to its users and the public.

Thank you for all that you do,

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

P.S. Financial firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, State Street, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard collectively control about 22 percent of Facebook’s shares and have the power to influence the company’s direction. Urge these companies to vote FOR the shareholder resolutions that will push Facebook to protect its users and the public.