On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook will prohibit political advertising in the week prior to the U.S. presidential election happening on November 3, and it will “seek to flag premature claims of victory by candidates.”
“This election is not going to be business as usual,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying the steps are meant to reduce last-minute misinformation campaigns and limit the potential for civil unrest.
“I’m worried that with our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to be finalized, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country,” he said in the statement, adding that “our democracy is strong enough to withstand this challenge and deliver a free and fair election.”
“It’s 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,” he wrote regarding slower returns in election results this election.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
Facebook also plans to prohibit campaigns from running new political ads during the final week of the campaign, Mr. Zuckerberg said. The step is meant to prevent campaigns from promoting misinformation at the last minute, when there won’t be adequate time to rebut it, the company said.
Other new Facebook election policies include limitations on the volume of messages that can be sent through its Messenger product and an expansion of Facebook’s rules against voter suppression to cover implicit attempts to mislead Facebook users about voting procedures. Facebook will also seek to protect election officials from threats of violence during the vote-counting process, he said. The company will also start implementing its plans to take down misinformation about voting, effective immediately.
The news comes amid concerns of massive election fraud due to mail-in ballots, which are known to help partisans rig elections.