UltraViolet Urges Meta to Prioritize Online Safety for Women & Girls After Sheryl Sandberg’s Departure as COO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 1, 2022
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Urges Meta to Prioritize Online Safety for Women & Girls After Sheryl Sandberg’s Departure as COO
Women’s Group Says Sandberg’s Tenure at Meta Ran Parallel to Proliferation of Misogyny, Hate, Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories Online
Moments ago, Sheryl Sandberg announced her departure as the Chief Operating Officer of Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Sandberg will still retain a role on Meta’s board of directors.
In response to the news, Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, issued the following statement:
“Under Sheryl Sandberg’s tenure as COO of Meta, Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp became a right-wing playground where misogyny, racism, disinformation, violent organizing, and baseless conspiracies proliferated.
“Sheryl Sandberg may fancy herself a feminist, but her decisions at Meta made social media platforms less safe for women, people of color, and even threatened the American electoral system. Sandberg had the power to take action for fourteen years, yet consistently chose not to.
“Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg were both complicit in turning Meta’s platforms into a disinformation machine. With Sandberg’s departure, Meta has an opportunity to change course. Regardless of future leadership structures at Meta, we urge the company to do more about online harassment to make their platforms safer and less toxic for everyone.”
In 2020, UltraViolet, along with a coalition of advocacy groups, retracted their public support of Sandberg, arguing the former COO helped transform Facebook into a platform that perpetuates the spread of disinformation and right-wing misogyny.
In 2022, UltraViolet called for Sandberg’s resignation after reports revealed Sandberg used her role at Meta to pressure news reporters from exposing harassment allegations against her former boyfriend, Bobby Kotick.
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