AIB Launches Social Media Campaign in Support of E-Fairness

Advocates for Independent Business (AIB), a coalition that includes the American Booksellers Association and a number of Local First groups, is launching a social media campaign in support of e-fairness — #efairnessnow. In contrast to previous e-fairness campaigns, the goal of #efairnessnow is to persuade customers of indie stores to show their support for Main Street retailers by posting social media campaign images on their Facebook and Twitter feeds. The campaign also calls on independent stores to do the same.

“We hope to spread the word via social media that the current sales tax inequity does more than negatively impact businesses — it hurts communities around the country,” ABA CEO Oren Teicher stressed. “For stores that want to engage their customers in this campaign, these images provide a tremendous visual impact that will drive the message home. We hope you will share them with your customers via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.” ABA member stores should be on the lookout for an e-mail with further details about the social media campaign early next week.

In the remaining weeks of this Congressional session, it is expected that the U.S. Senate will be voting to reauthorize a long-standing ban on Internet access taxes, and senators who support e-fairness are urging their colleagues to take this opportunity to add an e-fairness measure to the bill.

“Over the years, Congress has heard from thousands of small business owners on this issue,” said AIB coordinator Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). “But they haven’t heard from their customers — the millions of people who love and depend on indie stores. That’s what’s new with this campaign. We’re asking customers to stand up for a level playing field. They have a clear stake in this issue. Passing e-fairness is critical to ensuring that the stores they love continue to be there, and also that the burden of paying sales taxes is fairly distributed across all shoppers.”

ABA member bookstores that want to participate in the #efairnessnow social media campaign can find more information, shareable images, suggestions, and more on the AIB campaign page.