[ad_1]
Facebook says it will stop accepting political ads in the week before the US election, as its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg warned of “an increased risk of civil unrest across the country.”
Explaining the move, Mr. Zuckerberg said this choice it will not be as usual. We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. “
He said that “in general” he believed that “the best antidote to bad speech is more speech, but in the final days of an election there may not be enough time to challenge new claims.”
In preparation for this, Facebook will “block new broadcast and political ads during the last week of the campaign.”
Mark Zuckerberg warns of increased risk of civil unrest
“So in the week before the election, we will not accept new political or thematic ads,” Zuckerberg continued, although political and thematic ads that had already been running will be allowed to continue.
He said Facebook was taking steps to encourage voter participation, as well as address misinformation and prepare for candidates to declare results prematurely.
In particular, he warned that the coronavirus The pandemic, which is likely to result in increased numbers of voters by mail, could mean delays in the counting of votes.
“Many experts predict that we may not have a final result on election night,” he wrote.
“It is important that we prepare for this possibility in advance and understand that there could be a period of intense claims and counterclaims as the final results are counted.
“This could be a very heated period, so we are preparing the following policies to help in the days and weeks after the vote is over,” he said.
Facebook will place a Voting Information Center panel at the top of Facebook and Instagram “almost every day until the election,” which will include video tutorials on voting by mail and information on registration deadlines.
This panel will also “prepare people for the possibility that it may take a while to get official results. [which] it will help people understand that there is nothing illegitimate about not having a result on election night. “
In July, Donald Trump refused to declare that he would accept the election result, as he dismissed the validity of polls showing him behind Democratic candidate Joe Biden, raising concerns that he and his supporters would not comply with the results. .
The US President has previously been sanctioned by Facebook and Twitter for posting false information related to postal votes, and yesterday encouraged supporters in North Carolina to vote twice in the November elections to make sure your vote is counted.
