3 years ago
Facebook said Thursday it will ban new political advertising the week before the US election, one of its most sweeping moves yet against disinformation as CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned of a "risk of civil unrest" after the vote.
The social media giant vowed to fact check premature claims of victory, stating that if a candidate tries to declare himself the winner before final votes are tallied "we'll add a label to their posts directing people to the official results."
And it promised to "add an informational label" to any content seeking to delegitimize the results or claim that "lawful voting methods" will lead to fraud.
Facebook also started limiting its widely-used Messenger service to only allow uses to forward missives to no more than five people or groups at a time "to help curb the efforts of those looking to cause chaos, sow uncertainty or inadvertently undermine accurate information."
"Anyone who is saying the election is going to be fraudulent, I think that's problematic," Zuckerberg said in a CBS interview on Thursday.
The moves follow sharp criticism of Facebook's handling of the 2016 presidential election when it failed to restrict disinformation from Russian operatives that spread conspiracy theories and discouraged voting in some cases.
The US is gearing up for what is expected to be a bruising campaign season against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and mass protests for racial justice that have led to violent conflict in some cities between civil rights groups and armed right-wing vigilantes.
