For immediate release: December 14, 2020
Contact: press@kairosfellows.org
Over 4,000 people signed a petition opposing naming San Francisco General Hospital after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg due to the platform’s complicity in spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Zuckerberg donated $75 million to the hospital in 2015, and, at that time, the facility and city government made a controversial move to rename the public hospital after the billionaire.
Facebook has continuously made policy and enforcement choices that compromise the public health and safety of communities. Further, these decisions often disproportionately impact BIPOC, queer, and trans communities as evidenced by the global pandemic.
A prestigious public hospital bearing the name of Mark Zuckerberg flies in the face of advocates’ call to hold Facebook accountable for its role in promoting disinformation and misinformation during the most pressing health crisis in a generation.
"The fact that Facebook played a huge role in the spread of COVID-19 misinformation should be enough to convince anyone that Facebook's CEO should not have a hospital named after him. San Francisco's only public hospital should be named after someone who has upheld the values of human rights, dignity, and social and racial justice. From his actions as Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has not lived up to these values. And through our petition we've seen that 3000+ people agree." Jelani Drew, Campaign Manager at Kairos Action.
“Facebook’s algorithm pushes its users toward harmful content and extreme views—whether about public health issues like COVID-19 or disinformation about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. It needs to change its ways, and San Francisco needs to do its part in making that happen by passing this resolution.” said Tracy Rosenberg of the Protest Facebook coalition.
A resolution condemning the naming of the hospital after Zuckerberg passed out of committee and heads for a full vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, December 15.
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