Election Day is almost here, and Facebook is still convinced that it must make every effort to combat misinformation on its platform.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly called the election a “test” of everything the company has done to combat “foreign interference, voter suppression, calls for violence and more” in a quarterly earnings conference call, according to Bloomberg News.
“Next week will certainly be a test for Facebook,” Zuckerberg reportedly said in the call. “Election integrity is and will be an ongoing challenge. And I’m proud of the work that we have done here.”
Zuckerberg also “warned of the potential for delayed election results because of increased use of mail-in ballots,” The Washington Post reported.
Facebook has been preparing for the election since at least August, when the platform announced that it would be rolling out the “largest voting information campaign in American history,” with the goal of registering 4 million voters this year. Zuckerberg said the company estimated that it had “helped 4.4 million people register across our apps -- based on conversion rates we calculated from states we've partnered with,” in a Facebook post on October 26.
In the months leading up to the election, Facebook has continually piled on to its list of rules regarding election ads, initially claiming that it would only combat misinformation, voter suppression, or the incitement of violence.
“Facebook has previously said it would apply labels to posts where a presidential candidate or other party declares victory prematurely, saying the count is ongoing,” The Post reported at the beginning of October.
The platform began freezing political ads on Oct. 27 and has stated it will continue to do so until Election Day, when it plans to block all political ads on the platform.
The platform recently added a new level to its censorship policies by establishing an Oversight Board, which began accepting cases for review just last week. In recent months, Facebook has removed or labelled multiple posts from President Donald Trump. In September, Facebook removed a post from Trump claiming that COVID-19 is less lethal than the flu. That same month, the platform removed Trump ads about COVID-19 and the border. On September 3, Facebook flagged Trump’s post that told voters how to make sure their votes have been properly collected and tabulated.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Facebook headquarters at 1-650-308-7300 and Twitter at (415) 222-9670 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
