Facebook has assembled a team in Dublin to monitor for misinformation ahead of European Parliament elections in May, gathering 40 people at its European headquarters to fight against any attempt to manipulate the outcome of the vote through its apps.
The room is similar to the room that Facebook set up back in October 2018 ahead of the 2018 midterm elections in the United States, and elections in Brazil, which the company closed at the end of November. Facebook also set up a similar center in Delhi, ahead of this year’s elections in India. The reports says that this new room, located at Facebook’s European headquarters in Ireland, will remain open through the duration of the upcoming elections, which will be held between May 23rd and May 26th.
The Guardian notes that the room is staffed with “around 40 people,” which includes native speakers of “all 24 official EU languages.” The Times notes that Facebook wouldn’t say what actions the center has taken since it opened, but it did outline that the assembled team reviews material that is flagged by its automated systems or by users. The various team members takes a look at the material and makes a recommendation as to whether or not it should be removed. “In some instances, what’s flagged will lead to a bulk takedown of posts and accounts.”
Facebook said it had not detected anything similar related to the EU election as yet. “Over the past few months we have had takedowns involving behaviour with links to governments outside the EU. But these have not been directly linked to the EU parliamentary elections,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cyber security policy.
