Facebook Bans Political Ads Seeking To ‘Delegitimize’ U.S. Election

Topline

Facebook has announced it will prohibit advertising that seeks to “delegitimize” the U.S. election — including ads making allegations of widespread voting fraud or denouncing legitimate voting methods as inherently fraudulent or corrupt — marking yet another concession to critics who decry the platform’s rampant misinformation problem and lax fact-checking policies for political ads.

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

Rob Leathern, a Facebook director of product management, announced the policy changes in a tweet: “As we get closer to Election Day we want to provide further clarity on policies we recently announced. Last week we said we’d prohibit ads that make premature declarations of victory. We also won’t allow ads with content that seeks to delegitimize the outcome of an election”.

Key Background

Facebook’s lax fact-checking policies have been under increasing fire , as critics have warned that the platform has become an apparent safe haven for political falsehoods and lies in an election season characterized by rampant misinformation. On the eve of the first presidential debate, the Biden campaign took Facebook to task — publicly — over its repeated failure to enforce its policies governing misinformation. In a letter to the company, obtained by Axios, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon called out the company’s ongoing inertia: “Rather than seeing progress, we have seen regression. Facebook’s continued promise of future action is serving as nothing more than an excuse for inaction…By now Mr. Trump clearly understands that Facebook will not hold him to their clearly stated policies.” O’Malley Dillon said the Biden campaign would continue to call out the company’s “failures as they occur over the coming 36 days.”

Further Reading

Facebook says it won’t back down from allowing lies in political ads (New York Times)