Some civil rights groups say they have seen little action from Meta, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube to bolster election policies ahead of the 2022 US midterms
yet big tech companies continue to do little to stop the continued proliferation of election misinformation on their sites. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @globalextremism : @NaomiNixWrites covers our efforts with @changeterms to get big tech to stop the spread of disinformation on their platforms. Spoiler alert: as they pat themselves on the back, they aren't doing nearly enough. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Craig Aaron / @notaaroncraig : There's a question of: Are we going to have a democracy? ... And yet, I don't think they are taking that question seriously," said @JGo4Justice @freepress, which is helping to lead the coalition. “We can't keep playing the same games over and over.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @freepress : “The past few election cycles have been rife with disinformation and targeted disinformation campaigns, and we didn't think they were ready. We continue to see massive amounts of disinformation getting through the cracks.” ... @JGo4Justice @washingtonpost https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Rose Lang-Maso / @rose_lang_maso : It's one of the great privileges of my career to manage this @changeterms campaign under the fearless leadership of @JGo4Justice. And it's surreal to see it in @washingtonpost. We've given big tech a roadmap to protect people online and off this cycle: let's hope they read it https://twitter.com/... Naomi Nix / @naominixwrites : “There's a question of: Are we going to have a democracy? ... And yet, I don't think they are taking that question seriously,” said Jessica González, co-chief executive of Free Press. “We can't keep playing the same games over and over again, because the stakes are really high.” Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix : “they're treating ‘big lie’ ... as an urgent crisis that may pop up, and then they will take action, but they are not treating ‘big lie’ and other dangerous disinfo about the election as a longer-term threat for users...” -@AttorneyNora to @NaomiNixWrites https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Dell Cameron / @dellcam : if i were a reporter, i might remember that person chose not to engage seriously with me & simply decide not write about whatever “exciting news” is in the next press release Naomi Nix / @naominixwrites : New: For months, civil rights groups unsuccessfully pleaded with major tech companies such as Meta, Youtube, Twitter, and TikTok to bolster their election policies through private meetings and memos https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @changeterms : “Through memos & meetings, the Change the Terms coalition for months pleaded w/ Facebook parent Meta, Twitter, TikTok & YouTube to bolster content moderation systems it says allowed Trump's baseless claims about election rigging to spread...” #FixTheFeed https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Dell Cameron / @dellcam : i want this facebook job where all i have to do is say “no comment” all day & send people links to months old press releases “written” by my boss. what a sweet gig. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Nora Benavidez / @attorneynora : This is the work I've been doing for months. Proud to see our @freepress @changeterms efforts profiled in @washingtonpost. TY @NaomiNixWrites! This isn't a dress rehearsal. Tech must do better to protect ppl & democracy: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
This is a familiar standoff entering its second cycle. In 2020, the Biden campaign pressed Facebook directly with an open letter to Zuckerberg demanding stronger misinformation rules, and after that election the platforms' warning labels were judged a public-relations win but a product failure — applied too late to shape what voters saw.
Ahead of the 2022 midterms, the Change the Terms coalition and Free Press went back to Meta, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube asking for strengthened content moderation and election policies — and report getting little action. The arc matters because it foreshadows where this goes: by 2023, Meta and YouTube are following X in retreating from policing political misinformation altogether, while a court ruling limiting government contact with tech companies further constrains outside pressure.
First-order effects
- Voters heading into the 2022 midterms encounter election misinformation on Meta, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube under essentially unchanged policies, since the Change the Terms coalition and Free Press say their pleas for stronger rules went unanswered.
- Free Press's Jessica González and Craig Aaron are left arguing publicly that the platforms aren't taking the democracy question seriously, keeping advocacy pressure alive but without policy concessions to show for it.
Second-order effects
- With advocacy failing again, the platforms' calculus shifts from defending moderation to abandoning it: within a year Meta and YouTube, battered by content-moderation wars, begin following X in pulling back from political misinformation enforcement.
- Each unanswered advocacy round weakens the leverage of coalitions like Change the Terms, pushing them toward legal and regulatory channels instead of corporate persuasion.
Third-order effects
- If the retreat holds, election integrity becomes a patchwork of voluntary platform choices rather than enforced policy — and the 2023 ruling limiting government-tech contact removes even the state as a counterweight, leaving civil society groups as the last line of pressure.
- The pattern echoes the 'working the refs' dynamic flagged back in 2020: platforms placate partisan critics by doing less, structurally rewarding whoever attacks moderation hardest.
The trend: US platforms are steadily withdrawing from election misinformation enforcement despite repeated advocacy campaigns, shifting responsibility toward regulators and civil society.