(ETH) – Facebook has reported that it will prohibit new political advertisements in the week before the U.S. presidential election in November and even flag premature claims of victory by candidates in efforts to so stop the spread of misinformation and fuel civil unrest.
This report is the latest from Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. “This election is not going to be business as usual,” he said, noting both the difficulties of voting during a pandemic and likely attacks on the credibility of the results.
“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.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, this all comes as the U.S. intelligence community has warned of attempts at foreign interference and President Trump has called the vote’s integrity into question, raising concerns about a social-media-fueled dispute over the election’s outcome.
According to the report the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security, and intelligence agencies have all recently asked Facebook and other social media companies to plan for such volatile circumstances.
Zuckerberg has even come out stated that we should be expecting delays in tallying election results due to a pandemic-driven surge in absentee voting as a concern. “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. In other words, get ready for another full-blown election circus come November!
