Selena Gomez doubles down on her condemnation of tech leaders for allowing’hate groups’ to thrive

Selena Gomez has doubled down on her criticism of tech leaders for allowing ‘hate groups’ and ‘misinformation’ to thrive on social media.

The 28-year-old singer last week issued a fiery statement on social media after supporters of President Donald Trump violently stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC to protest his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

And in a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the star revealed that she felt compelled to speak out after witnessing a wave of divisive messages online.

She said: ‘I think that I started with reaching out to people immediately, directly. I wasn’t afraid to call out a Mark Zuckerberg or to speak what I wanted to speak, because I could not handle what I was seeing.

‘And already we’re getting progress, I can tell, with Facebook and stuff like that. But for me, I can’t stand the fact that people have to know that there are neo-Nazi groups online, and that there’s hate groups online, and misinformation from the US voting to the COVID virus.

‘It’s just, they’re not allowed to do that. This is supposed to be a place where people share their life, but not to create hate, and to hurt people. And you know what? Hurt people, hurt people. And I just think that’s what the bottom line is.

‘I get very passionate about it, so I can get pretty heated, but I just think that it’s necessary to call the people out who are responsible, but at the same time, being able to do what I can.’

At the time of the attack on the Capitol, Selena wrote: ‘Today is the result of allowing people with hate in their hearts to use platforms that should be used to bring people together and allow people to build community.’

She continued: ‘Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai, Susan Wojcicki – you have all failed the American people today and I hope you’re going to fix things moving forward.’

The entertainer named the leaders after Trump supporters staged massive protests in tandem with the Republican congressional dispute of the election results, ahead of President-elect Biden’s planned inauguration January 20.

Elsewhere in her interview with Zane Lowe, Selena discussed her new single De Una Vez – which means At Once – and her rumoured upcoming Spanish language album.

Texas-born Selena, who is of Mexican heritage, revealed that she believes her singing voice is better in Spanish than English.

She said: ‘This has been something I’ve wanted to do for 10 years, working on a Spanish project, because I’m so, so proud of my heritage, and just genuinely felt like I wanted this to happen.

‘And it happened, and I feel like it’s the perfect timing. Just with all the division in the world, there’s something about Latin music that globally just makes people feel things, you know?

‘You know what’s funny, is I actually think I sing better in Spanish. That was something I discovered. It was a lot of work, and look, you cannot mispronounce anything.

‘It is something that needed to be precise, and needed to be respected by the audience I’m going to release this for. Of course I want everyone to enjoy the music, but I am targeting my fan base. I’m targeting my heritage, and I couldn’t be more excited.’

She continued: ‘I think that it’s something that I’ve always loved, and you’re right. Within those five years, it really kind of became prominent, and you’re starting to listen to half-English, half-Spanish on the radio more than ever.

‘And it’s a really exciting time. And I think that I just hope that people understand how much I put my heart into this, and how amazing I feel about it.’  

Earlier this month, Selena took Facebook to task over reports they have platformed the spread false information about the novel coronavirus, which she says has deadly consequences.

She shared a link to a clip of a BBC segment featuring Imi Ahmed, the CEO of Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a London nonprofit.

In it, Ahmed said that social media companies have done ‘absolutely nothing’ to stop the spread of false information concerning vaccines and other aspects of the pandemic, citing experiments they have conducted. 

Selena reacted to the segment in a tweet, saying: ‘Scientific disinformation has and will cost lives. @Facebook said they don’t allow lies about COVID and vaccines to be spread on their platforms.

‘So how come all of this is still happening? Facebook is going to be responsible for thousands of deaths if they don’t take action now!’ 

Selena had previously called out the sites in the wake of a (CCDH) report that Neo Nazis were able to conduct commerce through both sites.

She said: ‘I’m speechless. @Facebook @Instagram how are you tolerating this hate? There’s still accounts there even though you have been notified!!’

In September, Selena took to Instagram Stories sharing a DM she had previously sent to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg in regards to problematic aspects of the social media sites.

‘Facebook and Instagram are being used to spread hate, misinformation, racism, and bigotry,’ she wrote. ‘I am calling you both to HELP STOP THIS. Please shut down groups and users focused on spreading hate speech violence and misinformation. Our future depends on it.’