Selena Gomez demands Mark Zuckerberg stops ‘hate speech’ online

Selena Gomez has revealed a letter she wrote to Facebook’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, and Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, calling on them to stop hate speech groups online.

Posting a screenshot of the direct Instagram message she sent to the company leaders to her 193 million followers, the 28-year-old wrote plainly.

"Selena here," she began. "It's been a while since we sat down. We have a serious problem. @Facebook and @Instagram are being used to spread hate, misinformation, racism, and bigotry. I am calling on you both to HELP STOP THIS. Please shut down groups and users focused on spreading hate speech violence and misinformation.

Our future depends on it. This is an election year. We cannot afford to have misinformation about voting. There has to be fact-checking and accountability. Hope to hear back from you ASAP."

Her public call follows the renewed push for the #StopHateForProfit campaign this past week.

On Wednesday, businesses and celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lawrence and Naomi Campbell, halted their Facebook and Instagram accounts for 24 hours in order to call for changes at Facebook, like taking down "groups focused on white supremacy, militia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and violent conspiracies."

Started earlier this year, the Stop Hate for Profit campaign was created by nine advocacy groups and is an ongoing campaign that defines itself as "a diverse and growing coalition that wants Facebook to take common-sense steps to address the rampant racism, disinformation and hate on its platform."

It has not yet been revealed whether Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have replied to the singer's call.

Reference: Bazar: Alice Howarth 1 day ago: 20/09/2020