Tell Facebook: Crack down on dangerous Republican lies and disinformation

Demand social media platforms crack down on Republican lies and disinformation >>

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Tell Facebook: Crack down on dangerous Republican lies and disinformation

We’ve seen the dangerous results of Republican lies. First, there was the Big Lie of January 6, 2021. After the recent FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for classified documents, we saw an increase in attacks and threats against the FBI, including an attack by one Trump supporter on an FBI field office in Cincinnati, OH. Other Trump supporters were seen standing outside of a Phoenix, AZ, FBI office with semi-automatic assault rifles.

Now, congressional Republicans are inciting violence through more lies and disinformation, simply because they don’t like Democrats’ new health, climate change and tax law that gives the IRS the resources it needs to hold wealthy and corporate tax cheats accountable:

There’s no army of 87,000 new IRS agents coming. Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz, are lying and fear mongering about a so-called shadow army of IRS agents, while simultaneously riling up their own army of armed vigilantes.

The truth is that Democrats’ new Inflation Reduction Act will increase IRS funding by $80 billion over 10 years to modernize its technology, improve customer service, and crack down on millionaire and billionaire tax cheats who aren’t paying $160 billion in taxes each year that they already owe.

Since 2010, Republican budget cuts have slashed IRS funding by 20% and cut enforcement staff by 30%. This has resulted in 54% fewer audits of large corporations and 70% fewer audits of millionaires. Wealthy and corporate tax cheats are getting away scot-free while the rest of us pay what we owe. It needs to stop.

The increased funding for the IRS “would return audit rates to the levels of about 10 years ago,” according to the Congressional Budget Office. What are Republicans afraid of? Who are they trying to protect? The answer is obvious: their billionaire and corporate donors. So they try to divert the public’s focus through lies and fear—their usual playbook.

Numerous fact check services have debunked Republican claims about the $80 billion in new funding for the IRS creating a “shadow army of 87,000 IRS agents”:

AP Fact Check: “GOP skews budget bill’s impact on IRS, taxes”
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Hyperbolic GOP claims about IRS agents and audits”
Time: “Trump Allies Are Attacking Biden For a Plan to Hire 87,000 New IRS Agents That Doesn't Exist”
PolitiFact, 3 Pinnochios: “Kevin McCarthy’s mostly false claim about an army of 87,000 IRS agents”

In order to avoid another violent attack on our democracy, demand social media companies, including Facebook, crack down on Republican lies and disinformation about the modernization of the IRS.

To Facebook, Twitter, and all social media platforms:

We’ve seen the damage lies and disinformation can do to our country. Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” led to the deadly January 6th attack on our Capitol. Recent lies around the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for classified documents has led to threats and violence against FBI agents. Now, Republican lies about increased funding for the Internal Revenue Service are intended to scare American taxpayers and incite even more violence. We demand all social media platforms immediately crack down on Republican lies and disinformation about the IRS, which are manipulating and agitating dangerous elements of our society.