Facebook To Bar Political Ads One Week Before Election

The Washington Post reports:

Facebook plans to block new advertising the week before the presidential election — the first time the company has taken action to limit political advertising in the United States, the company said Thursday. The move to limit ads, part of a spate of election-related announcements, is an attempt to reduce misinformation that is expected to flood social networks as Election Day draws near.

The company also said that it would label posts by any candidate or campaign that tries to declare victory before the final results are in, directing people to the official results from Reuters. It will do the same for any posts that try to delegitimize the outcome of the election — for example, a claim that voting by mail could lead to fraud. It has also started to limit users’ ability to forward articles on its Messenger platform to large groups of people.

Breaking News: Facebook said it would bar new political ads the week before Election Day, part of changes to limit misinformation and prevent interference https://t.co/YJW6gzOy6R

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 3, 2020