Activism

Human Sign participants assembling to highlight important issues in 2020

by Linda Hubbard Gulker on February 25, 2020

Bay Area Action, one of the organizers of the demonstration in front of Facebook on January 18, is planning another demonstration on Friday, Feb. 28 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm at Facebook headquarters (1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park).

“Bay Area Action is an environmental education and social action group famous for its human signs in the 1990’s,” (pictured above) said Portola Valley resident Laura Stec, one of the participants.  “We are reassembling to tackle important issues of the new decade.”

The demonstration focuses on the social media company’s refusal to fact-check political ads run on Facebook. “We converge around a huge 3 feet by 30 feet human sign, a bold message, and a thumbs-down exclamation point,” said Laura.

Organizers are urging Facebook to fact-check political ads being bought and broadcast across their site or eliminating political ads all together. The Financial Times published an op-ed piece by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that addressed some of the issues.

“We are standing for something, not demonstrating against,” said Laura. “Standing for something is more inspirational. Let’s get out and put energy around a good message.”

Historical photo courtesy of Bay Area Action; Truth Matters photo by Robb Most (c) 2020

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