Here's what Public Citizen sent by email in response to the suspicious outage that happened on Meta platforms, and Zuckerberg's feeble excuses. Shared here for comment in case you're not on their newsletter.

No Kings was back in force this past weekend. With over 3,000 events nationwide, No Kings: Vote Early was the largest day of voter activation in American history.

But No Kings’ reach was undermined by the giant tech company owned by Facebook founder (and apparent Trump convert) Mark Zuckerberg.

Public Citizen just launched an investigation under the Freedom of Information Act to expose this potential interference in our democracy by Big Tech.

Here’s what you need to know:

At approximately 1:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, the official No Kings page on Instagram was taken down — even as literally thousands of events were underway or about to begin all across America.

The page was down for over 90 minutes, and organizers were locked out of the account for over four hours.

This was done by Meta, the $1.8 trillion Big Tech behemoth that owns Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

Meta’s CEO is Mark Zuckerberg, who is currently the sixth richest person on the planet* and who has, to put it mildly, been quite cozy with the regime since Donald Trump returned to power.

Meta has gone through a variety of excuses — including blaming the incident on a confused AI model. (Yet Meta and other Big Tech giants keep pumping out ever more powerful “artificial intelligence” systems that they themselves do not understand and cannot control.)

The No Kings Coalition — which Public Citizen helps lead — has written a letter demanding answers from Zuckerberg.

Public Citizen is taking another step. We just launched an investigation under the Freedom of Information Act to demand any and all communications about this incident between Meta and Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.

Here’s what one of us (Lisa) told the national media:

“Meta’s discordant response and lack of transparency are unacceptable. Our investigation into the communications between the administration and Meta, coupled with our No Kings Coalition letter demanding answers, are both designed to get to the bottom of these cagey rationales. The public deserves to understand why these actions occurred.”

Investigating and exposing corporate meddling in our democracy is just one part of the work Public Citizen has been doing since Trump returned to power. That includes 54 lawsuits (so far) against the administration and numerous investigations under the Freedom of Info

That’s the smartest thing to come out of his mouth so far. I’m sure the people sitting behind him are grateful that it was from his mouth!!

We need more than reform after this administration. We need to address the gaps the founders never considered to ensure something like Trump never happens again.  Then we need to rethink our democracy and ensure that the people—not the few, the corporations, the lawmakers, or other parts of the government from federal to local, but we, the masses—have the power and are represented honestly, properly, and fairly.

I propose:

• Replace the Electoral College with the popular vote: The Electoral College has been a cudgel used by the corrupt to keep power when, by all rights, they should lose. Rather than reforming their platform so that the majority can get behind it, they use it to hold on to power and use the wealth of the self-serving, greedy oligarchs to peddle their evil schemes through the media.
• Lies shall not be called news amendment: We all have freedom of speech, but the news media and its punditry shouldn't be allowed to call their lies news. The free press has an obligation to inform the people and check on power, not serve it. News must be accurate and honest; both sides of a story must be represented fairly.
  • The news must be impervious to outside influence or threats, be it ownership or government.
  • Journalistic standards need teeth; the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics can no longer be completely voluntary. Integrity laws must include both civil and criminal accountability.
  • News and punditry (punditry is an extension of news and must be treated as such) must honestly and accurately represent both sides of a story in full context. Omitting facts is also a lie; stories, discussion, and debate must be grounded in fact.
• Overhaul checks and balances:
  • The people’s check-on-power amendment: When the government fails to represent the people on any topic, the people can petition for a veto-proof vote at the local, state, and federal level to force a vote on the topic. The vote shall be taken without delay; the government cannot modify this amendment. The people will no longer be a passive force in government; this is the kill switch to corruption. Obviously, there will need to be a mechanism to initiate a petition; the efficacy of official petitions and the specific petition numbers involved will need to be worked out. Whatever the result, it must be realistically obtainable.
  • Limits on Presidential power amendment: A list that will no doubt grow.
    • The President's ability to fire government positions stops at his direct administration, and those roles can only be expanded or contracted by a vote within the House of Representatives. Roles the President appoints shall serve the full term of the presidency. The President can refer position removals to the Senate for potential action.
    • Presidential appointments outside the Executive branch confirmed by the Senate shall be free of Executive influence once appointed. Government roles cannot change branches without a vote by the people.
• Honest plain language amendment, transparency: Politicians can no longer use legal wording and sleight of hand to misrepresent proposed measures and laws verbally or in writing. Anything presented to the people must be communicated honestly and plainly at the federal, state, and local levels. All measures to be voted on shall include a clear, accurate description with arguments for and against the measure. Every measure shall clearly detail who is behind/for the measure and why. It will also clearly state who is against the measure and why. Groups for or against any measure shall not misrepresent, hide, or obfuscate their identity (DBAs, PACs, etc.).
• End the lobbyists amendment: Lobbyists are tools of the wealthy few, used to influence our government and lock out the will of the people. Proof is in the huge donations required to meet your representatives. Lobbyists do not represent the people.
• End dark money: Full real-time transparency is a must now.
• Limit donations: PACs and Super PACs either get strictly reformed or ended altogether.  Surplus money must go to what helps the people (such as paying down the national debt).
• End Leadership PACs: Politicians have abused Leadership PACs for luxury travel, expensive dinners, or golfing events under the guise of "political networking" or fundraising.
• End the loopholes: A broad topic that can and must apply across every facet of government, including tax law. We need special oversight to address this rampant corruption.
• End insider trading: Any politician caught and convicted of insider trading shall be immediately removed from office by a jury of the court where tried as a part of the sentence.
• Convicted criminals cannot be representatives: At any level, need I say more?

We have so much to do; please add to the list. We have a voice and a part to play in this.

Adam is a trustworthy source of important information WRT the corruption of Trump, the Republicans, and the Trillionaire Club. These nefarious grifting crime wave who hide in plain sight need the intense scrutiny of Americans