Facebook is employing a more aggressive strategy to combat misinformation related to the 2020 US presidential election. The platform is now making it harder to share election misinformation, and is also limiting the reach of content that may contain false claims about the election.
Facebook’s Fight Against Misinformation Drags On
As the US waits for final election results, Facebook has been waging a war on misinformation.
Since the election, Facebook has removed a 300,000-member group, Stop the Steal, which challenged election results and incited “worrying calls for violence.” Facebook also blocked certain hashtags, #StopTheSteal and #SharpieGate, both of which contained posts that questioned the integrity of the election.
Facebook is now ramping up its efforts to combat misinformation. According to a report by The New York Times, Facebook plans on adding more “friction” to the sharing process.
This means that you might have to click through an extra warning notification before sharing content, and you may also be encouraged to visit Facebook’s Voting Information Center.
In addition, the platform is planning to demote posts that its “systems predict may be misinformation” across Facebook and Instagram. Election-related Live videos on both platforms may also be made less visible.
Even before the election started, Facebook has been relying heavily on labels to deter users from sharing misinformation. It already slapped a warning label on President Trump’s post that made misleading claims about the election.
The tech giant has also placed notifications at the top of Facebook and Instagram to remind users that all votes still haven’t been counted, and that a winner hasn’t been declared.
Now, Facebook is not only applying labels to false claims, but it’s also throttling the flow of information on the platform. In September 2020, Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and communications, hinted at this type of response. Clegg specifically stated that Facebook may “restrict the circulation of content should things get chaotic.”
It seems like Facebook is following through with what Clegg previously mentioned. And while this move is temporary, Facebook hasn’t stated how long the slowdown will last.
Facebook Still Faces More Obstacles
A winner of the 2020 US election still hasn’t been decided, which means that Facebook will still have hurdles to overcome. After all, misinformation will likely continue to spread long after a winner is declared. Unfortunately, we may be stuck with a throttled News Feed for quite some time.
Twitter has also taken steps to slow the spread of misinformation, as it added an extra step to the Retweet process. With social media waging war against misinformed users, it may be best to stay off these platforms until the election drama comes to an end.