Facebook has taken a lot of flak for how its social network was used to spread misinformation during the previous election. With election season fast approaching, the company is taking steps to ensure that there’s not a repeat of last time. It has now said that ads which discourage people in the United States from voting ahead of the U.S. presidential election next year will be banned.
According to Facebook’s second annual Civil Rights Audits published over the weekend, the company is going to ban ads that tell Americans not to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Facebook says that it’s new “don’t vote” policy is in developmental stages and that it’s seeking advice from voting organizations before it goes into effect. It did point out that this policy will initially apply in the United States only. Facebook promises that this policy is going to become effective by the fall this year.
Facebook has been taking steps to ensure that its platform is not used for voter suppression. It already banned posts that spread misinformation about voting methods, election dates and times, and polling locations last year. The rules added last year also banned intimidation tactics including misrepresentations about whether votes will be counted.
Filed in . Read more about Facebook. Source: newsroom.fb