More than 30 House Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have signed a letter asking Facebook executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to address hate speech targeting women — particularly for women candidates and political leaders.
“Women in politics face pervasive sexism, hate, harassment, and threats of violence on your platform that make it more difficult for them to succeed in public life,” the letter reads. “We are imploring Facebook to do more to protect the ability of women to engage in democratic discourse and to foster a safe and empowering space for women.”
At a Thursday forum on misogyny and hate speech on social media organized by George Washington University, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who led the letter, touched on the manipulated videos disparaging Pelosi and Facebook’s recent removal of a post by President Trump that spread misinformation about the coronavirus. She suggested the company was capable of acting on harmful content, but chooses not to.