*[Enwl-eng] Resist Facebook
ENWLine
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Stand up to Facebook’s plan to take over our financial system. Their digital currency Libra is a threat to our democracy. Let's stop it before it is too late. |
Hi,
With about 1 in 5 people in the world using Facebook every day, the big tech giant is one of the most influential companies in the world. [1] And now they’re coming for your money.
Facebook unveiled its plans to deeply transform our monetary system. They want to launch Libra - a new global “digital currency” where you can buy and sell digital banknotes with real money, and transfer them (via Facebook and their corporate partners) to someone else in exchange for a service or good. [2]
The power of big tech giants is already almost uncontrollable. If access to sensitive payment data is added, many of us will become dangerously dependent on Facebook and their corporate partners – even our dependence on big banks is less dangerous compared to that. [3] Their plan is for more and more people to use it for everyday transactions, which they will be able to monitor unscrupulously.
If we don’t take action now, Facebook’s strategy is to quickly establish itself and hold true to its initial corporate motto “move fast and break things“. Although Libra claims to “empower billions,” by design the currency could threaten our democratic systems: it would further concentrate power in the hands of digital oligopolists without real public scrutiny or democratic accountability - a dangerous experiment at our expense. [4]
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With our partners Finance Watch and Finanzwende, we want finance to serve society and ensure democratic accountability: not to increase the unregulated power, wealth, and control of tech giants.
There is already a momentum to stop Facebook’s new currency before it even launches. The European Central Bank has issued a warning against Libra and one ECB official has called it “treacherous.” [5] France and Germany have recently pledged to fight Libra [6]. But warnings and pledges are not enough, we need a ban on Facebook money.
Together our people power can help ensure that these warnings are followed by action. We know Facebook is lobbying hard behind the scenes, and regulators willing to stand up to them need to hear our support. Just recently, in a leaked audio Zuckerberg told his employees that they are counting on private meetings with regulators behind closed doors to ensure the rollout of Libra.[7] If we show the European Central Bank and EU institutions that we don’t want Facebook money, our support can help push them to block Libra’s launch while it is still in development.
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If the European Union stands united against Facebook, the planned launch of Libra can be stopped. Without access to European markets, Libra would not make much sense as a “global cryptocurrency that will be available around the world.” [8]
As a community we want European democracy to be led by its people: decisions must not be dominated by the interests of large corporations. We will not stand idle when corporations like Facebook try to take over our financial system. Let’s stop Facebook money together!
With determination.
Giulio (Rome), Fatima (London), Virginia (Madrid) and the entire WeMove Europe team.
P.S. A new digital currency will continue to take away power from the people and put it in the hands of Facebook and private companies in the Libra Association (PayPal, Uber, eBay and others). But this is only one of the many risks associated with Libra. Please see all the reasons why the currency is a bad idea published by our partners, and stand up to Facebook by signing the petition today!
References:
[1] During the second quarter of 2019,Facebook reported 1.58
billion daily active users, or around 20 percent of the current world
population.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/346167/facebook-global-dau
[2]
https://libra.org/en-US/partners/ ; Find more about how Libra works
by reading the official Libra White Paper:
https://libra.org/en-US/white-paper/?noredirect=en-US#introduction
[3]
https://www.finance-watch.org/publication/libra-heads-i-win-tails-you-lose/
[4]
https://libra.org/en-US/white-paper/?noredirect=en-US#introduction
[5]
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ecb-official-calls-facebooks-libra-treacherous-2019-09-02
[6]
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-and-germany-pledge-to-fight-facebooks-libra/
[7]
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/1/20756701/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-leak-audio-ftc-antitrust-elizabeth-warren-tiktok-comments?fbclid=IwAR2DOFeyGDTEBLiTwV8uLuaQfsADWpperiELGzy-97mMOEVYofb7SazOeto
[8]
https://libra.org/en-US/
WeMove.EU is a citizens’ movement, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere.
WeMove.EU is funded by donations from our community across Europe. Can you chip in with a few euros a month and help make sure we can move fast to win the campaigns that matter to all of us? Donate
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