{"id":111593,"date":"2019-12-09T08:25:22","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T13:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/open-letter-to-facebook\/"},"modified":"2019-12-09T08:25:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T13:25:22","slug":"open-letter-to-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/open-letter-to-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Letter to Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open Letter to Facebook<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

December 9, 2019<\/p>\n

To the attention of Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO, Facebook:<\/p>\n

As organizations attached to this letter \u2014 leaders in lesbian<\/a>, gay<\/a>, bisexual<\/a>, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) advocacy, public health, and HIV\/AIDS prevention \u2014 we are urgently reaching out to Facebook and Instagram regarding factually inaccurate advertisements which suggest negative health effects of Truvada PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). The advertisements are targeting LGBTQ Facebook and Instagram users, and are causing significant harm to public health. The signers of this letter, including members of Facebook\u2019s LGBTQ Network of Support, request that Facebook and Instagram remove the advertisements and also publicly address the misinformation that the platforms allowed to spread.<\/p>\n

Using Facebook\u2019s and Instagram\u2019s targeted advertising programs, various law firms are attempting to recruit gay<\/a> and bisexual<\/a> men<\/a> who use Truvada PrEP as an HIV preventative to join a lawsuit, claiming that the drug has caused harmful side effects in this patient population, specifically bone density and kidney issues. By focusing on \u201cTruvada\u201d and PrEP \u2014 rather than\u00a0\u201cTenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate\u201d (or TDF) and HIV positive individuals who use it as an antiviral \u2014 the law firms\u2019 advertisements are scaring away at-risk HIV negative people from the leading drug that blocks HIV infections. This is despite numerous studies underscoring the safety of TDF in HIV-negative PrEP users.1<\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leading public health officials, medical professionals, and dedicated PrEP navigators and outreach coordinators have shared that these advertisements on Facebook and Instagram are being directly cited by at-risk community members expressing heightened fears about taking PrEP.<\/p>\n

This issue goes beyond misinformation, as it puts real people\u2019s lives in imminent danger. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that when taken daily, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from sex or injection drug use. The CDC states: \u201cStudies have shown that PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken daily.\u201d The World Health Organization recommends that \u201cpeople at substantial risk of HIV infection should be offered PrEP as an additional prevention choice, as part of comprehensive prevention.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

In response to a question from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during his testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee on October 23, 2019, you, as CEO, explicitly stated: \u201cIf anyone, including a politician, is saying things […] that [are] calling for violence, or could risk imminent physical harm […] we will take that content down.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

By allowing these advertisements to persist on their platforms, Facebook and Instagram are convincing at-risk individuals to avoid PrEP, invariably leading to avoidable HIV infections. You are harming public health. \u00a0<\/p>\n

LGBTQ and HIV prevention groups reached out to Facebook about this situation, giving Facebook\u2019s Ad Policy department ample time and opportunity to address the harmful spread of misinformation about Truvada PrEP on Facebook. As directed by Facebook, community organizations also contacted third party fact checking agencies regarding the misinformation. Facebook\u2019s Advertising Policy regarding misinformation in ads, however, states that: \u201cFacebook prohibits ads that include claims debunked by third-party fact checkers or, in certain circumstances, claims debunked by organizations with particular expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are the organizations with \u201cparticular expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the history of how our community was met by deadly indifference during the early years of the AIDS crisis, the refusal to take action is deeply concerning. Since a resolution was not reached, immediate action must be taken by Facebook to ameliorate the harm which has already been caused to those who may be seeking preventative treatment against HIV. <\/a><\/p>\n

The co-signatories of this letter demand that:<\/p>\n