<\/p>\n
\n\tR.E.M.\u2019s Michael Stipe has urged his social media followers to join him in a temporary boycott of Meta and its associated products to protest their part in \u201chelping advance the far right in America\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\tStipe shared his intentions via a post<\/a> on Instagram on Sunday (Jan. 19), outlining the \u2018Lights Out Meta\u2019 campaign which would take place from Jan. 19 \u2013 26, and asked users to log out of all Meta platforms for the week. As Stipe added, this includes the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, WhatsApp, Giphy, Meta Quest, and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019ll be logged off for the week. Starting tomorrow,\u201d Stipe wrote. \u201cPlease consider doing the same so corporations like Meta can imagine there might be consequences for helping advance the far right in America and world wide. Or are we too addicted [that] we can\u2019t log off even for one week?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIts so gross,\u201d he continued in his post\u2019s caption. \u201cI\u2019m really happy to step away for a week as some form of protest\u2014and then I\u2019ll come back and decide what to do from there.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tStipe\u2019s decision to take part in a boycott of Meta platforms comes just days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company\u2019s decision<\/a> to drop their fact-checking program for Facebook and Instagram, noting it apparently made \u201ctoo many mistakes and too much censorship\u201d and is \u201ctoo politically biased.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tInstead, Facebook and Instagram will rely on a method similar to the \u201ccommunity notes\u201d model found on X. This, however, has been met with widespread criticism from commentators who have expressed fear it could lead to further misinformation<\/a> on social media and strongly contribute to the further spread of far-right ideologies.<\/p>\n \n\tStipe is not the only individual to announce their departure from social media this weekend, with The Cure\u2019s Robert Smith also telling his followers<\/a> he is leaving X on Sunday (Jan. 19) in favour of accounts on Bluesky, Instagram, or Mastodon\u2019s Universeodon. \u201cOtherwise I will likely be outside,\u201d added Smith.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n