Letter of concern to Mark Zuckerberg from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative-funded scientists

This is a letter of concern that was sent to Mark Zuckerberg Saturday June 6th. Currently there are signatures from 277 scientists, of which ~120 are principal investigators who are direct awardees of CZI or CZ Biohub funds, as well as CZI employees — including over 107 professors at leading US research institutions, with 2 Nobel Laureates. Signatures from CZI-funded scientists will continue to be collected.

Co-organizers are Dr. Martin Kampmann, UCSF and Dr. Debora Marks, Harvard Medical School.

Dear Mark,

We are a group of concerned scientists currently or previously funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) or the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

Social media platforms, like Facebook, have emerged as primary ways of communicating information. While they have allowed dissemination of information across the globe, they also facilitate the spread of misinformation. The spread of news that is not vetted for factual accuracy leads to confusion and a mistrust of experts. Indeed, Facebook acknowledges this in their own user policies. Thus, like many, we were disconcerted to see that Facebook has not followed their own policies in regards to President Trump, who has used the Facebook platform to spread both misinformation and incendiary statements. For example, his statement “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” is a clear statement of inciting violence…