Facebook is introducing new policies aimed at further protecting the 2020 US presidential election from interference, with measures specifically targeting political ads and calls to “watch the polls.”
The social network said it plans to clamp down on posts intended to intimidate voters. President Trump and others have urged supporters to go to polling places on Election Day to watch for signs of fraudulent voting, an action that many fear will lead to acts of intimidation and violence against potential voters.
Facebook says it will also remove posts that don’t use militarized language, but will encourage poll watching as a way to suppress voting. The policy will not apply to posts retroactively.
Facebook will also temporarily stop running all political ads after the polls close on November 3, in addition to banning new political ads a week before the election. The company didn’t specify when it will allow it again, only saying it will notify advertisers when it does.
The news comes as Facebook tries to show users, politicians and the public that it is doing more to protect the 2020 elections, having allowed its platform to be manipulated in foreign attempts to influence the 2016 elections. Meanwhile, the publications they spread conspiracy theories. and disinformation and voter suppression attempts have continued to plague the service in recent weeks, sometimes amplified and spread by politicians with large supporters.
Facebook said that between March and September it tagged more than 150 million posts for election disinformation, adding that it removed more than 120,000 posts for violating its voter interference policies on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook also said that it removed 30 bad actor networks on its services and that it had rejected ad submissions that were expected to run about 2.2 million times in the US.
Facebook said that after the polls close, it plans to run a notification at the top of Facebook and Instagram directing users to its voter notification center, a tab with authoritative information about the vote counting process. You’ll also direct users to that hub via tags that you plan to add to candidate posts.
If a candidate declares victory prematurely, Facebook said it will include an additional note on the labels reminding users that a winner has not yet been determined. When major media outlets declare a winner, Facebook plans to display that candidate’s name in a notification at the top of Facebook and Instagram, even if the winner’s opponent objects to victory. Facebook also plans to include the winner’s name in the candidates’ posts.
“This is part of a multi-year marathon journey we’ve been on to understand the risks in elections,” said Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity. “It is important that we are prepared.”
