Social-Media
Facebook will stop accepting new campaign advertisements one week before the US presidential election.
Facebook will stop producing new campaign ads in the United States in the seven days leading up to the election, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today as part of a series of actions the firm is taking to defend from democratic interference.
The US elections are just two months out, and with COVID-19 impacting communities around the country, I 'm worried about the obstacles that people will face when they vote, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post announcing the change. I am also concerned that with our nation so fractured and the election results possibly taking days or even weeks to be announced, there could be an increased chance of civil strife across the world.
Candidates and public task groups will continue to be eligible to purchase advertising that have already earned at least one experience by 27 October, the firm said. They may also opt to tailor current advertising to particular audiences or change their amount of investment. Yet they will not be able to introduce new innovative campaigns — a hedge against politicians that promote disinformation at a especially busy period in the company's history.
The move represents a balance between the detractors who have insisted that the organization avoid selling advertisements immediately and the political campaigns who have claimed that commercials help less well-known politicians and could be key to get-out-the-vote initiatives.
It is difficult to placate those who contend that Facebook's anti-factory campaign encourages election advertising to benefit from propaganda and the slow deterioration of American democracy. But it may deter the worst attempts to spread hoaxes and uncertainty in an election that has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, public concerns about going to the polls physically, and a growing emphasis on mail-in ballots.
Other steps announced by Facebook today include:
- Putting the company’s “Voter Information Center” at the top of the Facebook and Instagram feeds. The widget contains accurate, verified information and videos about how to vote, and will remain at the top of the feed until Election Day. It will begin appearing this week for all US users, Facebook said.
- Using the Voter Information Center to educate Americans about the fact that the winner of the presidency may not be declared the night of the election, as mail-in ballots could take days or weeks to be counted.
- Providing live, official election results as they become available through a partnership with Reuters. The information will appear in the Voter Information Center, and Facebook will also deliver updates via push notifications.
- Removing posts that contain “clear misinformation” about COVID-19 and voting.
- Adding a link to accurate information about COVID-19 to posts that attempt to discourage people from voting by invoking fears about the disease.
- Adding a label to any candidate or campaign post that attempts to declare victory before the results are official. The label will direct users to information from Reuters.
- Adding a label to posts that attempt to cast doubt on the outcome of the election.
The organization has announced that it would extend its anti-voting policy to cover "implicit abuses" of the mechanism, even though they do not prohibit voting. The statement I hear someone with a driver's license getting a vote this year will no longer be allowed under the revised rules, Facebook said.
Facebook's collaboration with election authorities to detect posts targeted at intimidating votes will begin now, the firm said. In the past, municipal election authorities, beginning 72 hours before the election, tried to check for posts containing false details on elections. Given the anticipated dependency of this election on mail-in votes, analysis needs to begin today.
Finally, Facebook would briefly limit the number of users you can forward links to in Messenger to five per post. The change started August 17th and will roll out globally later this month, Facebook said. This year, the company introduced similar limitations to WhatsApp.
News that Facebook was contemplating a short-term political ban on ads emerged in July, when Zuckerberg addressed it in an all-out meeting with his team. Previously, the organization made all advertising on the web available in the public library and allowed customers to "power off" political ads.
Yet, other sites have followed a more conservative strategy.
Last year, Twitter banned election ads, and Google moved to curb the right of micro-target voters to advertise.
I trust that our system is powerful enough to face this challenge and deliver a free and equal election — even if it takes time for every vote to be counted, Zuckerberg said in his article. We have always voted through global pandemics. We should do it. Although it would take a collective commitment on the part of many of us — political parties and members, electoral officials, the media and social networks, and eventually voters — to step up to our obligations.
