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Facebook spent $50,000 on group backing Georgia voting restrictions

Facebook

The RSLC caucus supports stricter voter verification requirements and aims to help elect Republicans at the state level.

Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images

Facebook donated $50,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) only 44 days after its pledge to suspend political donations for "at least the current quarter," according to an investigative report from Popular Information.

The RSLC caucus supports stricter voter verification requirements and aims to help elect Republicans at the state level. Its website claims: "If Republicans fail to meet this moment with serious proposals to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, Democrats will dominate elections for years to come." In particular, RSLC calls for reforms to absentee and mail-in voting procedures, including signature verification, photo ID submission, and "timely ballot return requirements."

The RSLC recently offered public support for the Georgia Senate Republicans in their push to ban at-will absentee voting and ballot drop boxes for elections in the state.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp eventually signed a comprehensive election reform bill into law on March 25. The legislation entered the national spotlight after Major League Baseball decided to move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta. President Biden offered support for MLB's decision, while former President Trump asked his supporters to "boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections."

Facebook responded to Popular Information's inquiry by claiming their 90-day political donation pledge was only intended to apply to the Facebook PAC, not direct corporate contributions. The company added that their $50,000 donation constituted "membership dues" to the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association (RLGA) and was "standard practice."

However, as Popular Information points out, the RLGA is a caucus operated by the RSLC.

Hirsh Chitkara

Hirsh Chitkara ( @HirshChitkara) is a reporter at Protocol focused on the intersection of politics, technology and society. Before joining Protocol, he helped write a daily newsletter at Insider that covered all things Big Tech. He's based in New York and can be reached at hchitkara@protocol.com.

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