Maya Wiley of The Leadership Conference: “Springfield, Ohio Is Not The Last Community That Will Be Terrorized Because Social Media Companies Refuse To Take Content Moderation Seriously”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dena Craig, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Following bomb threats, school closures, and other threats in Springfield, Ohio, which were all prompted by disgraceful lies, Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement:

“This is one of the clearest examples we’ve ever seen of social media platforms’ failure to confront hate — and just how dangerous it is when they refuse to act. This entire tale was based on lies and hearsay.

“For more than a week now, wild stories have spread at lightspeed across the internet, fueled by bad-faith actors whose racist and unfounded lies produced serious threats of violence against a community that was just going about their lives. No community deserves what Springfield’s Haitian community is going through. Schools, hospitals, and other gatherings have been threatened. Kids have been kept home from school. Immigrants have been threatened. This is a dangerous disgrace.

“While this small town was being tormented by lies spread on social media platforms, the platforms themselves sat on their hands and also helped supercharge rumors, innuendo, and outright lies. In a matter of hours, Springfield was placed at the center of a social media-driven firestorm driven entirely by lies.

“This is not difficult — we know exactly what we must do. Social media companies must use the tools and protocols already at their disposal to stop the spread of disinformation and lies that we know fuel violence and cause division. In this moment of crisis, companies must review the role they play in fueling violence against immigrant communities and enforce policies that keep all of us safe. That means identifying those accounts that are amplifying the hateful rhetoric and inciting violence against immigrant communities — and removing their accounts, deleting their hateful posts, or pointing to credible sources that debunk these racist myths.

“We need to be very clear: Springfield, Ohio, is not the last community that will be terrorized because social media companies refuse to take content moderation seriously. It’s up to them to act. Beyond real world violent repercussions, misinformation and disinformation have the capacity to hurt our democracy. That’s why it’s critical for Congress to pass the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, the AI Transparency in Elections Act of 2024, and the Preparing Election Administrators for AI Act.” 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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