Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees the social media giant will implement new strategies close to the election while warning about the potential for inciting more unrest across the country.
The measures, which Zuckerberg reportedly announced in a note to employees Thursday, include preventing new kinds of political ads one week before the election and posts from campaigns they deem prematurely declare victory.
“The U.S. elections are just two months away, and with COVID-19 affecting communities across the country, I’m concerned about the challenges people could face when voting,” Zuckerberg wrote. “I’m also 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.”
A recent Democratic data firm funded by billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a possible election scenario includes a “red mirage,” whereby the amount of mail-in ballots cast in the election could show President Trump with an initial landslide victory on Election Night, even though he may lose to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden once all the mail-in votes are counted.
“This election is not going to be business as usual,” the Facebook CEO said. “Since the pandemic means that many of us will be voting by mail, and since some states may still be counting valid ballots after election day, many experts are predicting that we may not have a final result on election night.”
Zuckerberg has said his company’s policies diverge from those of other social media companies, such as Twitter. In May, Zuckerberg said he didn’t think Facebook should be in the business of fact-checking posts from users. However, he said the intensity of the upcoming election requires the initiatives, so the spread of claims of false victory can be avoided.
“I generally believe the best antidote to bad speech is more speech, but in the final days of an election there may not be enough time to contest new claims,” Zuckerberg said.
