Company CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday that Facebook will ban new political ads for the week leading up to Election Day, Nov. November, and will remove posts trying to suppress or discourage voting.
The move also aims to prevent the campaign and its supporters from making premature claims of victory, a situation some Democrats have described as a doomsday affair.
The announcement was made as part of a series of steps to address concerns about how Facebook could be used to manipulate the election, and the U.S. Zuckerberg’s warning about possible unrest around was included.
“With the U.S. election just two months away, and Covid-19 is affecting communities across the country, I’m concerned about the challenges people may face when voting,” Zuckerberg wrote in a note to staff members. “I am also concerned that the divided and election results in our nation will likely take days or weeks, which could increase the risk of civil unrest across the country.”
Facebook’s move comes amid growing fears that President Donald Trump and his supporters will use social media to spread evidence-free claims of voter fraud and cast doubt on mail-in votes, which is likely to delay final results by several days.
“This election will not be commercial as usual,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Because the epidemic is that many of us will vote by mail, and some states may count valid ballots even after election day, many experts are predicting that we will not have a final result on election night.”
The head of Facebook added, “It is important that we prepare in advance for this possibility and understand that there may be a period of intense claims and counter-claims as the final results are considered.” “This could be a very hot time.”
New steps have been taken even after Facebook’s reluctance to take more aggressive action against the misinformation spread by President Donald Trump, targeting harsh criticism from within the company and Zuckerberg.
While Twitter has refused to take more aggressive action, such as Twitter’s ban on all political ads, the company has made a series of changes in recent months, including allowing users to opt out of political ads.
The announcement of a ban on new political and publicity announcements on Thursday in the week leading up to Election Day adds to that list, although it may not have the same impact as previous elections. Voters are expected to cast more votes by mail before the election than in previous years.
“I generally believe that the best antidote to bad speech is more speech, but there may not be enough time to fight new claims in the final days of the election,” Zuckerberg said, noting that advertisers will be able to continue running ads. Started running the week before and adjust the target for those ads.
Facebook will also put “official” election information on top of users ’Facebook and Instagram feeds and remove any posts trying to use the coronavirus epidemic to discourage voting.
Finally, Facebook says that “if a candidate or campaign tries to declare victory before the final results come out,” it will “add a label to their posts directing people to Reuters’ official results.”
In recent months Trump has repeatedly tried to cast doubt on the integrity of the election by questioning the legitimacy of the mail-in votes. This week, he encouraged supporters in North Carolina to test the mail-in system by voting twice, which is illegal.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that the Democratic Party is “preparing for the worst situation in which Mr. Trump has been fighting in the courts and state legislatures since declaring a premature victory.”
Democrats are also worried that Trump and his supporters will use social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to advance false claims.
For Facebook, in an active stance on the 2020 election, there is an opportunity to face failures during the 2001 election, when foreign governments and groups used the platform to spread and disseminate false information.
At this point, Facebook is “increasingly watching efforts to undermine the legitimacy of our elections from within our own borders,” Zuckerberg told employees.
“I believe our democracy is strong enough to meet this challenge and provide free and fair elections – even if it takes time to count every vote,” he wrote. “We can do this. Political parties and candidates, election officials, the media and social networks and ultimately the voters as well – to fulfill our responsibilities, however, will be a solid effort by all of them. “
