Facebook rejected 2.2 million ad submissions for targeting the US without completing its authorization process, Agence France-Presse reported. The social media giant also has removed 120,000 posts across Facebook and Instagram for violating its voter interference policies and placed warnings on 150 million posts debunked by fact-checkers.
Facebook’s vice president Nick Clegg announced that the company was working towards strengthening the security of its platforms ahead of the US Elections and that any attempts to “obstruct voting” or spread “disinformation” would be dealt with strongly. The posts and advertisements in question were attempting to obstruct voting, he revealed. “Thirty-five thousand employees take care of the security of our platforms and contribute for elections,” said Clegg.
Apart from this, Facebook also posted warnings on 150 million pieces of false information posted online, establishing partnerships with 70 specialised media platforms including agencies across the world to tackle misinformation. “We have established partnerships with 70 specialised media, on the verification of information”, he revealed. The company is also using artificial intelligence to look out for possible problematic posts including those spreading fake information, taking action on them even before users report them.
Facebook has taken other steps to try to mitigate potential chaos on November 3rd and afterward. The platform will ban ads that wrongly claim victory in the US presidential race, or ads that claim rampant voter fraud could alter the results of the election. Facebook also will reject ads from Donald Trump or Joe Biden if either tries to claim a win prematurely. And it’s banned new political ads the week before the election.
