Recently Facebook has been working to put strategies in place to avoid the possibility of further interference in America’s elections.
Facebook has announced their plan to refuse political advertising before the election, according to a Reuters report. To stem the spread of misinformation and election interference exemplified in the 2016 election, Facebook must properly enforce their new regulations.
The majority of Facebook users are older individuals with the ability to vote, making them prime targets for manipulative political advertisements\ and conspiracy theories. Russia was one of the major powers to manipulate this platform for their own gain, utilizing accounts like the Russian owned Internet Research Agency to flood the site with divisive content close to the 2016 election.
Due to the expansive circulation of advertising on Facebook, as well as other social media services, misinformation can be easily confused as factual. During the 2016 election, this misinformation caused great dysfunction among both Democratic and Republican parties and lead people to believe that the election was manipulated because of these circumstances.
Before and after the 2016 election, conspiracy theories have flourished due to Facebook’s popularity–based algorithms. A recent conflict among Facebook users has been over the validity of mail-in voting. Donald Trump has sparked doubts among Republican voters with claims that the mail-in voting system is geared against him and his voters. No matter how valid Trump’s statement might be, the idea has already inspired a revolt against the system.
Creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg plans to regulate misinformation about voting from both its users and advertisers. By enforcing maintenance over their site, Facebook can maintain the legitimacy of this year’s election.
The damage after the election has been recognized as well. Consistent monitoring of the content posted after the results of the election is important to help prevent violence among their users. After the 2016 election, conspiracy theories and misinformation were able to flood Facebook because of the immense activity on the site. The elections had finished, but the site, somewhat by design, gave unreliable sources a platform to spread their content. However, due to Facebook’s preparation for the aftermath of the 2020 election, the ways in which election results affect the site will be mitigated.
Whether Facebook can be trusted at face value is uncertain because of their malpractices during the 2016 election. However, their recognition of the threat of misinformation and conspiracy theories does show that Facebook understands the dangers of misinformation, especially during an election year.
From a global standpoint, a major source of election interference is countries like Russia or China. Instead of hacking the 2016 election, the landscape of Facebook allows for malicious manipulation of voters to function just like conspiracy theories. The constant flow of information allows bot accounts specifically made for uploading misinformation and advertisements to rise above truth.
Facebook has recently taken down bot accounts from China which included content about the 2020 election. While the accounts were not successful in attracting an American audience, Facebook’s proactive approach to over 180 Chinese bots does give their plans to regulate their site more credibility.
Evidenced by the new procedures established by Facebook, the scandals and manipulation on the site have shown them the importance of consistent maintenance and regulation, especially on a social media platform. The practicality of Facebook’s statements is not yet clear, but their concepts show genuine attempts to protect both the election and their users. Because of the site’s past, as well as the short–term nature of ad cancellation, Facebook should not be superficially trusted, and their users should hold them responsible.
Photo by Tate Walden
