Resolution 2022-32077RESOLUTION NO. 2022-32077
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORID^, URGING TWITTER, INC_ AND OTHER MAJOR
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, AND
TIKTOK TO IDENTIFY AND BAN ANY RUSSIAN-SPONSORED STATE
MEDIA AND VERIFIED RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS FROM ITS
PLATFORM AMID RUSSIA'S UNLAWFUL INVASION OF UKRAINE AND
THE ONGOING DISINFORMATION AND CYBER WARS THE COUNTRY IS
WAGING TO SUPPORT AND JUSTIFY ITS BRAZEN, ILLEGAL INVASION
OF A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY_
WHEREAS, on February 24, 2022, the verified Twitter account of Ukraine posted an
appeal to the people of Twitter, asking them to demand that Twitter remove the official Russia
account from the platform; and
WHEREAS, the request comes amid Russia's unlawful invasion of Ukraine and the
ongoing disinformation and cyber wars the country is waging to support and justify its brazen,
illegal invasion of a sovereign country; and
WHEREAS, the groundwork for Russia's invasion of Ukraine was seeded by a mass
disinformation campaign that has been on -going for several years, painting Ukrainians as the
aggressors and labeling the entire Ukrainian government as controlled by "neo-Nazis," using
that as a pre -text to "liberate" and "de-nazify" Ukraine; and
WHEREAS, on February 27, 2022, the European Union has moved to ban the Russian
state -backed channels RT and Sputnik in an unprecedented move, with the European
Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announcing that: "Russia Today and Sputnik, as
well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war and to
sow division in our union. So we are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful
disinformation in Europe."; and
WHEREAS, the reach of Russian state -media outlets' regular posts remains massive —
RT currently has 7.3 million followers on Facebook, 4.0 million subscribers on YouTube, 2.0
million followers on Twitter, 830,000 followers on Instagram and roughly 280,000 on Telegram;
and
WHEREAS, with the military conflict in Ukraine showing no imminent signs of letting up,
and with global sanctions still gaining steam, tech companies must take concrete steps to curb
Russia -backed disinformation; and
WHEREAS, there is long list precedent for Twitter `s use of suspension: Twitter shut down
terrorist organizations and accounts that promote terrorist action, such as those promoting the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), QAnon conspiracy theorists, all accounts affiliated
with Alex Jones and InfoWars for spreading disinformation, over 200,000 Chinese accounts
believed to be part cf a Chinese government influence campaign targeting the protest movement
in Hong Kong, and recently, permanent suspension of former president Coonald Trump's account,
citing his violation of Twitter's Glorification of Violence guidelines in connection with the January
6, 2022 attack on Capitol Hill; and
WHEREAS, as such, the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach urge
Twitter and other major social media platforms to identify and ban any Russian -sponsored state
media and verified Russian state accounts from its platform to help curb disinformation wars
used by the Russian government to support its unlawful invasion of Ukraine.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the Mayor and City
Commission hereby urge Twitter, Inc. and other major social media platforms such as
Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok to identify and ban any Russian -sponsored state media and
verified Russian government accounts from its platform amid Russia's unlawful invasion of
Ukraine and the ongoing disinformation and cyber wars the country is waging to support and
justify its brazen, illegal invasion of a sovereign country.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 9 day of g , 2022•
Dan Gel r Mayor
ATTEST:
f CTC Z
Rafael E. ranado, City er �,
(sponsored by Commissioner Alex J. Fernandez) y
APPROVED AS TO
FORM & LANGUAGE
& FOR EXECUTION
3___ 1-21
Date
city Attorney Ce
Resolutions - C7 T
MIAMI BEACH
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
Rafael A. Paz, City Attorney
March 9, 2022
SUBJECT -A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING TWITTER, INC. AND OTHER
MAJOR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE,
AND TIKTOK TO IDENTIFY AND BAN ANY RUSSIAN-SPONSORED STATE
MEDIA AND VERIFIED RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS FROM ITS
PLATFORM AMID RUSSIA'S UNLAWFUL INVASION OF UKRAINE AND
THE ONGOING DISINFORMATION AND CYBER WARS THE COUNTRY IS
WAGING TO SUPPORT AND JUSTIFY ITS BRAZEN, ILLEGAL INVASION
OF A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY.
ANALYSIS
Pursuant to the request of Commissioner Alex Fernandez, the above -referenced Resolution is
submitted for consideration by the Mayor and City Commission at the March 9, 2022 Commission
meeting.
SUPPORTING SURVEY DATA
N/A
Legislative Tracking
Office of the City Attorney
Sponsor
Commissioner Alex Fernandez
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Description
Resolution
Page 213 of 874
MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
Office of the City Clerk
Tel: 305-673-741 1
March 14, 2022
Shouzi Chew, Chief Executive Officer
TikTok
5800 Bristol Pkwy
Culver City, CA 90230
Dear Chief Executive Officer Chew,
Attached please find a copy of City of Miami Beach Resolution No. 2022-32077:
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING TWITTER, INC. AND OTHER MAJOR
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, AND TIKTOK
TO IDENTIFY AND BAN ANY RUSSIAN-SPONSORED STATE MEDIA AND
VERIFIED RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS FROM ITS PLATFORM AMID
RUSSIA'S UNLAWFUL INVASION OF UKRAINE AND THE ONGOING
DISINFORMATION AND CYBER WARS THE COUNTRY IS WAGING TO
SUPPORT AND JUSTIFY ITS BRAZEN, ILLEGAL INVASION OF A SOVEREIGN
COUNTRY.
(Sponsored by Commissioner Alex Fernandez)
This Resolution was passed and adopted by the Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of
Miami Beach on March 9, 2022.
Respectfully,
Rafael E. Granado
City Clerk
c: Commissioner Alex Fernandez
MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
Office of the City Clerk
Tel: 305-673-741 1
March 14, 2022
Parag Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer
Twitter
1355 Market Street, Suite 900
San Francisco, CA 94103
Dear Chief Executive Officer Agrawal,
Attached please find a copy of City of Miami Beach Resolution No. 2022-32077:
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING TWITTER, INC. AND OTHER MAJOR
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, AND TIKTOK
TO IDENTIFY AND BAN ANY RUSSIAN-SPONSORED STATE MEDIA AND
VERIFIED RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS FROM ITS PLATFORM AMID
RUSSIA'S UNLAWFUL INVASION OF UKRAINE AND THE ONGOING
DISINFORMATION AND CYBER WARS THE COUNTRY IS WAGING TO
SUPPORT AND JUSTIFY ITS BRAZEN, ILLEGAL INVASION OF A SOVEREIGN
COUNTRY.
(Sponsored by Commissioner Alex Fernandez)
This Resolution was passed and adopted by the Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of
Miami Beach on March 9, 2022.
Respectfully,
Rafael E. Granado
City Clerk
c: Commissioner Alex Fernandez
MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
Office of the City Clerk
Tel: 305-673-741 1
March 14, 2022
Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer
Facebook
1 Hacker Way
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Dear Chief Executive Officer Zuckerberg,
Attached please find a copy of City of Miami Beach Resolution No. 2022-32077:
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING TWITTER, INC. AND OTHER MAJOR
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, AND TIKTOK
TO IDENTIFY AND BAN ANY RUSSIAN-SPONSORED STATE MEDIA AND
VERIFIED RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS FROM ITS PLATFORM AMID
RUSSIA'S UNLAWFUL INVASION OF UKRAINE AND THE ONGOING
DISINFORMATION AND CYBER WARS THE COUNTRY IS WAGING TO
SUPPORT AND JUSTIFY ITS BRAZEN, ILLEGAL. INVASION OF A SOVEREIGN
COUNTRY.
(Sponsored by Commissioner Alex Fernandez)
This Resolution was passed and adopted by the Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of
Miami Beach on March 9, 2022.
Respectfully,
Rafael E. Granado
City Clerk
c: Commissioner Alex Fernandez
MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beath, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
Office of the City Clerk
Tel: 305-673-741 1
March 14, 2022
Susan Wojcicki, Chief Executive Officer
YouTube
901 Cherry Avenue
San Bruno, CA 94066
Dear Chief Executive Officer Wojcicki,
Attached please find a copy of City of Miami Beach Resolution No. 2022-32077:
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING TWITTER, INC. AND OTHER MAJOR
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, AND TIKTOK
TO IDENTIFY AND BAN ANY RUSSIAN-SPONSORED STATE MEDIA AND
VERIFIED RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS FROM ITS PLATFORM AMID
RUSSIA'S UNLAWFUL INVASION OF UKRAINE AND THE ONGOING
DISINFORMATION AND CYBER WARS THE COUNTRY IS WAGING TO
SUPPORT AND JUSTIFY ITS BRAZEN, ILLEGAL INVASION OF A SOVEREIGN
COUNTRY.
(Sponsored by Commissioner Alex Fernandez)
This Resolution was passed and adopted by the Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of
Miami Beach on March 9, 2022.
Respectfully,
Rafael E. Granado
City Clerk
c: Commissioner Alex Fernandez