PHOTO COURTESY OF AXIOS.COM

BALTIMORE —The NAACP released the following statement after Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, and other civil rights leaders met with Facebook co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, about the detrimental effects of his company’s policy on political ads that contain falsehoods:

“We are encouraged by the recent meeting held with Facebook co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, but we recognize there is still much work to be done,” said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, NAACP. “We look forward to more conversations with Facebook as we continue to illustrate the pivotal role it plays disseminating news and ads to the American Electorate. It is imperative that Facebook and all tech companies understand the significance of protecting our democracy and the right of the public to receive content through a transparent and fact-checked lens.”

The NAACP and our allies stand committed to addressing these concerns with Facebook until policies are instituted that seek to deter and mitigate false political advertisements.