| Mark Zuckerberg testifies at the US senate and we’re running full-page ads of our open letter in major newspapers — share this everywhere to make the letter a million strong and make Zuckerberg commit to Fixing Facebook! |
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Dear friends,
It’s official: Facebook and social media are out of control. A quarter of a BILLION Facebook accounts are fake! 87 million of us had our data stolen to help Trump win. Russian disinformation operations generated BILLIONS of shares. On Wednesday CEO Zuckerberg will make history testifying before the US Congress. This is our moment to force government and big internet to commit to fix this mess. Sign the open letter below with one click and Avaaz will deliver it in a massive action outside Congress:
To Mark Zuckerberg, Internet CEOs and Government Regulators:
Enough is enough. We call on you to protect our democracies and immediately:
- Tell the Truth about fake users and disinformation campaigns, including through independent audits.
- Ban the Bots – ban ALL fake or imposter user accounts.
- Alert the Public – notify all users EACH time they are exposed to fake or malicious content, and correct the record.
- Fund the Fact-Checkers – an independent army big enough and fast enough to stem the spread of lies.
Crucial elections are just months away. Facebook’s motto used to be Move Fast and Break Things. Now you need to Move Fast and Fix Things.
Sincerely,
It’s not an exaggeration. Everything we love is under threat – from human rights to democracy to the environment.
This problem is worldwide, with the UN even blaming Facebook for genocide of the Rohingya! But Russia has weaponised it, launching what NATO calls the biggest information war in history. They’ve set up millions of fake users, pages, sites, organisations posing as everything from neo-Nazis to leftist muslim-rights organisations to psychic fortune tellers — all designed to promote the far right, infiltrate the left, and undermine democracy. They’ve generated billions of shares, reaching virtually all of us.
Facebook says they’re acting fast, but they’ve dragged their feet for months, and they won’t be transparent. Their answer is “trust us”. We can’t afford that anymore, so this Wednesday let’s make sure we get the ball rolling with US legislators and Zuckerberg publicly committing to our call to action — add your name with one click:
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In many ways, the Russian and far-right disinformation campaigns are the mirror image of our movement. In response to our real movement building global unity, they launch fake movements, pushing lies and deception to divide us. As a result, they’ve seen us as a powerful opponent and constantly targeted Avaaz! This is a battle for the soul of the internet, for democracy itself, for our future. Let’s win it.With hope and determination,
Ricken, Christoph, Nell, Mia, Alaphia, Diego, Fadi, Marie, Jenny, Meetali, Andrew, Nick, Fatima, Danny and the whole Avaaz team.
MORE INFORMATION:
Inside the two years that shook Facebook – and the world (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/inside-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-2-years-of-hell/
Facebook Says Data on Most of Its 2 Billion Users Is Vulnerable
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-04/facebook-says-data-on-87-million-people-may-have-been-shared
Germany starts enforcing hate speech law (BBC News)
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42510868
How Facebook can cut down on fake news without relying on thousands of humans to decide what is true (Quartz)
https://qz.com/836508/facebook-nasdaqfb-can-stop-spreading-fake-news-without-becoming-an-arbiter-of-truth/
Selective Exposure to Misinformation: Evidence from the consumption of fake news during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign (Princeton University, Dartmouth College, University of Exeter)
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/fake-news-2016.pdf
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| Pompeo the Wrong Choice for Secretary of State
As climate change increasingly influences our international relations, CIA director Mike Pompeo is the wrong choice for Secretary of State. As a U.S. Represenative, he ignored the scientific consensus around climate change and was a top recipient of Koch Brothers money. In his CIA confirmation hearings, he refused to answer questions relating to climate change. As Secretary of State, Pompeo would play a critical role in evaluating dirty fuel projects proposed by the oil and gas industry to which he owes his success.
Tell your senators to vote against confirming Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.  |
| What Are Your Earth Day Plans?
On April 22, Team Sierra will be raising money via our 2nd Annual Nationwide Earth Day Hike. Adam Kerns of Frederick, Maryland, is hiking because he’s concerned about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Stephanie Goering of Madison, Virginia, who became a committed activist after participating in last year’s Climate March in D.C., is hosting a 5K run. Ariana Kaiser Varnum of Los Angeles decided to organize an Earth Day outing after being awed by what she saw during a field trip to the Audubon Canyon Ranch in Northern California.
Read about why these three and others have joined this year’s Earth Day hike…and sign up!
Photo of Adam Kerns with his husband Matt Wright.  |
| Get the Latest From Sierra Magazine
Looking for an easy way to get a daily dose of environmental inspiration? Sign up for The Green Life email and get the latest from Sierra magazine—everything from news articles to sustainable living tips to outdoor adventure stories, sent every weekday to your Inbox.
Sign up.  |
| Sierra Club + Earth Day = Great Gear
Shop the Sierra Club Store: Celebrate Earth Day every day with our gardening kit, which includes a bag, gloves, seed packets, trowel, stainless steel water bottle, and more. Toss some extra seed packets into your cart—everything is 20% off through April 22!
Use code EARTHDAY on checkout.
Shop today!  |
The Phases of VenusThe “evening star” is the brightest of all the planets because of its proximity to Earth and its perpetual, reflective cloud cover. In April, the planet is relatively far from the sun, making it shine even more brightly from our earthly point of view, and giving it a nearly full (gibbous) shape. Insomniacs can watch Saturn and Mars rise during the wee hours early in the month (use binoculars to glimpse Saturn’s rings and the white polar region on Mars), and other heavenly highlights include the Lyrid meteor shower, which peaks on…
Click here to find out |
Wolves in the Crosshairs
In Wyoming, wolf hunting is now legit 365 days a year across 85 percent of the state, where wolves are classified as “shoot-on-sight vermin.” The remaining 15 percent, concentrated around Jackson Hole and the Tetons, is a “trophy area” where wolves can still be seasonally hunted. Today anyone in most of Wyoming can kill wolves without a hunting license, and almost any form of violence—guns, snares, explosives, hunting from vehicles and snowmobiles—is allowed. Between the first legal hunt in five years and the unlicensed slaughter, Wyoming may have lost a quarter of all its wolves last year.
How did this happen?
| Pruitt, Automakers Conspire to Loosen Fuel-Economy Rules
At the New York Auto Show in Manhattan last month, automakers preened and trumpeted their latest electric, hybrid, and plug-in models, while the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry’s primary trade group, launched a million-dollar ad campaign about how electric vehicles “drive change.” Meanwhile, 250 miles down I-95 in Washington, D.C., auto industry execs were working behind the scenes with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt to spread misinformation about the science of human-driven climate change and roll back Obama-era rules to increase fuel efficiency.
Read about Pruitt’s latest attack on the environment, this time through tailpipe emissions.  |
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