BAA rad sheep remind Mark Zuckerberg that TRUTH MATTERS

The Rad Sheep rises!

A group of Bay Area Action’s raddest sheep, led by Madame Laura Stec, brought a human sign at Facebook HQ last Friday (January 17, 2020) to tell Zuckerberg and Co. that “TRUTH MATTERS’.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted during Congressional testimony that over 150 million users had received disinformation during the 2016 elections. Yet Zuckerberg disregards election integrity again by refusing to follow his competitors’ lead, and do the necessary work to prevent his company’s sanctioned political disinformation from infesting our personal feeds and poisoning the 2020 presidential elections.

“We are unhappy with [Facebook’s] decision to not fact check their political ads on their platform,“ Stec told InMenlo. “We expect Facebook to righten this course as we approach the 2020 presidential election.”

“Moreover, a greater issue is facing society. A weakening of important standards such as truth and facts poison our democracy, discourse, media, and the body politic. As Fiona Hill, National Security professional for the Trump administration said during her Capital Hill testimony, ‘Do not propagate (political) disinformation. When you do, you are doing the work of Vladimir Putin.’”

“Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions, but no one is allowed to have their own facts.”

BAA members demanded that Facebook must either:

1. fact-check political ads being bought and broadcast across their site, or
2. eliminate political ads altogether.

The event was covered in Indybay and InMenlo.

Human signs

Bay Area Action had used human signs (giant cardboard letters, each held by a person) many times over 10 years in the 1990s, delivering numerous messages about social, environmental, and political issues ranging from stopping nuclear testing and protecting Ohlone Field from development to urging motorists to carpool.

2020’s Facebook action could be considered somewhat of a resurrection of BAA’s Action Team, which went dormant when BAA and the PCCF merged to form Acterra nearly 20 years ago. Could this mean the Rad Sheep will rise again? For answers, ask Laura, but don't expect more than a wink and a smirk for now...

– Mark Bult (who sadly could not attend)

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This was originally posted in a slightly altered form to the BAA Facebook group (ironic, isn’t it?).

2020 photos provided by Robert Most and Robin Gallo. More photos can be seen in the Facebook Group’s photo albums.