Facebook says they’ve decided to ban political and issues-based ads from the platform, immediately following Election Day.
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“We’ve known for a long time that the 2020 election in the US would be unlike any other. We’ve been preparing for this election with a unique set of products and policies,” said a statement released by the social media company. Facebook announced the latest updates to its Election 2020 protocol with new changes including the aforementioned ban.
“In addition, while ads are an important way to express voice, we plan to temporarily stop running all social issue, electoral or political ads in the US after the polls close on November 3, to reduce opportunities for confusion or abuse. We will notify advertisers when this policy is lifted.” Facebook said.
The company maintained its goals of helping people register to vote and protect the integrity of the election by fighting foreign interference, misinformation, and voter suppression. In their statement, Facebook noted that between March and September of 2020 they have worked to remove false information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Presidential Election and other important subjects.
Facebook claimed to have removed 120,000 posts on both their platform and on Instagram that violated voter interference policies, rejected approximately 2.2 million ad submissions, displayed warning messages on 150 million debunked posts, removed and announced 30 networks engaged in coordinated, inauthentic behavior, helped 2.5 million people register to vote and removed 6.5 billion fake accounts.
The social network is also preparing for election results to take longer than normal, due to mail-in voting amplified by the coronavirus pandemic. Posts will be marked with a note informing users “votes are still being counted.”
“We will run a notification at the top of Facebook and Instagram and apply labels to candidates’ posts directing people to the Voting Information Center for more information about the vote-counting process. But, if a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets, we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined.”
Facebook also committed to the removal of posts intended to intimidate or deter anyone from voting at the polls and work with federal and state law enforcement and election authorities.
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“We will also remove calls for people to engage in poll-watching when those calls use militarized language or suggest that the goal is to intimidate, exert control, or display power over election officials or voters,” Facebook said.
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