Open Letter #1 to Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO Facebook

May 6, 2010

Via fax to: 650-543-4801

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO
Facebook
1601 S. California Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304

Re: Threat to Public Safety

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

As one of the 800,000+ members of a group* calling for the removal the Facebook page that "prays" for President Obama's death, I admonish Facebook to remove the imprecatory page (and all content that incites hate) immediately.**

Regardless of its creator’s intent, the page is inherently malicious, misleading, intimidating, threatening, hateful, and has incited violent suggestions and claims (see below). Many of us are particularly alarmed that someone might try to answer the "prayer" of the million+ people who "like" it, that comments on it embolden people to accept such vitriol as the norm, and that its user’s interactions multiply hate exponentially and breed both hatred toward the duly elected Chief Executive Officer of the United States of America and an insidious contempt for civil discourse. We are also deeply concerned about youth who see and use that page, especially those who do not know about Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman, John W. Hinckley Jr. and their historical context. Regardless of the creator's age, given its content, he or she appears to lack the capacity to manage it effectively.

Clearly, the "death-prayer" page is a threat to public safety. Please remove it immediately.

Sincerely,

Susan Jacobi
http://www.facebook.com/susan.jacobi
USA

Enc. "Is Facebook Biased?" posted on April 26th, 2010 (at http://dumbconservatives.com/is-facebook-biased/). Note Cory Hays' claim, "im going to shoot that stupid ..... in the face..."

Cc: Southern Poverty Law Center, PTA Office of Programs & Public Policy, David Badash, et al.

* See http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121236781223275&v FMI.

** It is located at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/DEAR-LORD-THIS-YEAR-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-ACTOR-PATRICK-SWAYZIE-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-ACTRESS-FARAH-FAWCETT-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-SINGER-MICHAEL-JACKSON-I-JUST-WANTED-TO-LET-YOU-KNOW-MY-FAVORITE-PRESIDENT-IS-BARACK-OBAMA-AMEN/111712585523370?ref=ts

Examples of other groups about which many of us are (or were) concerned include "Killing Black People" at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Killing-Black-People/392485934872?ref=search&sid=100000614643779.1699851484..1 and the "Petition-to-Publicly-Flog-Morons-Who-Cant-Take-a-Joke-About-Obama" (which has been removed, thank you).

05/07/10 UPDATE:  Thanks Facebook for removing the "Killing Black People" page/group!