Any day is a good day to boycott Facebook, but today is especially perfect. This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee released two reports on Russian propaganda and its use of social media.
Russia’s Internet Research Agency used Facebook and Instagram extensively to target people of various political stripes, with special attention to Black Americans.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/10/how-to-delete-your-facebook-account-a-checklist/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/10/Facebook-410×231.png” title=”How To Nuke Your Facebook Account From Orbit” excerpt=”Let’s talk about that elephant in the room: Facebook’s recent disclosure that attackers got their hands on access tokens for an unknown number of Facebook accounts is a big deal, since it’s the kind of hack that you, a happy Facebook user, could not prevent.”]
“The most prolific IRA efforts on Facebook and Instagram specifically targeted Black American communities and appear to have been focused on developing Black audiences and recruiting Black Americans as assets,” one of the reports summarises.
#LogoutFacebook also means #LogOutInstagram and #LogOutWhatsApp
— NAACP (@NAACP) December 18, 2018
So the NAACP is leading a protest hashtagged #LogOutFacebook. It started yesterday and continues for a week.
Our friends at Gizmodo have more information on the background for the boycott, as well as a response from Facebook.
While you’re at it, log out of Instagram and WhatsApp, too. Both companies are owned by Facebook, and in fact, the IRA focused on Instagram after the 2016 election, ultimately getting more engagement there than on Facebook itself.
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