LOS ANGELES: On Sept 18, Selena Gomez asked Facebook executives to take action against the spread of misinformation and racism on its social media platforms.

“It’s been a while since we sat down. We have a serious problem. Facebook and Instagram are being used to spread hate, misinformation, racism and bigotry,” the singer wrote in a private message to chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg. “I am calling you both to help stop this. Please shut down groups and users focused on spreading hate speech violence and misinformation. Our future depends on it.”

Gomez, who has 193 million followers on Facebook-owned Instagram and more than 77 million on Facebook, shared a screenshot of her private message on her Instagram story, initiating a public conversation on the platform’s spread of misinformation, hate speech and racism.

With the upcoming presidential election, Gomez urged Facebook’s leaders to take action. “This is an election year. We cannot afford to have misinformation about voting,” she continued. “There has to be fact-checking and accountability. Hope to hear back from you ASAP.”

The multi-hyphenate artiste’s call to action follows the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign, started by a coalition of US-based civil rights groups in June, to stop running ads that could misinform the public.

Stars including Kim Kardashian, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Ruffalo, Dwyane Wade and Katy Perry blacked out their social media feeds for 24 hours on Sept 15 to protest against the spread of misinformation and hate speech on the platforms ahead of the US presidential election.

 - Reuters