Facebook will ban new political ads a week before the election
- Facebook will prohibit all new political ads in the week before the 2020 presidential election, which takes place on November 3.
- The company wants to avoid a repeat of the 2016 US election, when Russia used the social media platform to wage a misinformation campaign.
- Facebook will also remove misinformation about the pandemic and voting, and any premature posts from candidates declaring victory.
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Facebook will prevent all new political ads from running on its platform in the week leading up to the US presidential election on November 3.
The company said on Thursday that advertisers could reuse existing ads up until Election Day, but that there would not be enough time to "contest new claims" made in new political or issue-based ads.
"In the week before the election, we won't accept new political or issue ads," the company wrote on Twitter. "Campaigns will still be able to run ads, like get out the vote efforts, but in the final days of an election there may not be time to contest new claims."
The idea is to stop potential misinformation spreading widely in the crucial final days before the vote.
It is part of a set of wider measures Facebook is taking to boost voter turnout and avoid foreign interference.
The company said it will delete posts with "clear misinformation" about COVID-19 and voting, as well as premature posts from candidates that declare election victory. It will promote "authoritative information" about how to vote at the top of the main Facebook site and Instagram, it said. It will also delete posts that may lead to voter suppression.
The company will limit message-forwarding on the Facebook Messenger messaging app to reduce the spread of misinformation between individuals or private groups. It has previously taken similar measures on WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg 'worried' about civil unrest
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post that he was "worried" about the increased risk of civil unrest in the US.
"This election is not going to be business as usual," he wrote. "We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest."
Facebook will be keen to avoid a repeat of 2016's presidential election, when Russia successfully used the social network and other online platforms to damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
The company earlier this week announced that it had uncovered a fake news operation on its site linked to a Russian organization that interfered with the 2016 election — the notorious Internet Research Agency.
Facebook removed pages for a fake news site called Peace Data that targeted "Democratic Socialists, environmentalists, and disgruntled Democrats," according to an analysis by social-media experts at Graphika. The site successfully recruited progressive US journalists into writing about a range of issues.
The 2020 election is shaping up to be a contentious battle. Trump has hinted that he may not accept the election outcome and ensure a peaceful transition of power. "I have to see, look, I have to see, I'm not just going to say yes, I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time either," he said in a July interview with Fox News.
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