The social network will let you stop political advertising.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said late Tuesday that the social network is building a new online voter information center as part of an effort to register 4 million people to vote in the 2020 US elections. The social network will allow users to turn off political advertising if they do not want to see it.
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| social network will let you stop political advertising |
In an op-ed published in USA Today, Zuckerberg said the new center would include information on how and when to vote, voter registration, voting by mail and early voting. More than 160 million people in the US will see this new online hub, as it will appear at the top of the Facebook news feed and on its photo-sharing service Instagram. Information on state and local election officials will also be visible at the center.
"The election of 2020 is going to be unlike any other. It was already going to be a hot campaign, and that was before the epidemic - and before the murder of George Floyd and so many people we faced the painful reality. Forced again, Zuckerberg stated in the op-ed, "Systemic racism in America. People want accountability, and the last path in democracy we do is through voting. "Facebook is calling it" the largest voting information campaign in American history. "
The campaign underscores Facebook's efforts to reestablish its image before the 2020 election. The company has faced criticism that it has not done enough to counter misinformation, including lies from leaders who are free from fact-checking on the platform. During the 2016 US presidential election, Russian trolls also used social networks to quench discord among Americans.
Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden urged Facebook to change most of its hands for a political speech. Biden's campaign sent a letter to Zuckerberg, allowing the company to conduct fact-checking two weeks before allowing all political advertisements to run on the platform and allowing the election's content to go viral. Facebook, which says political speech is already heavy, said in response that if lawmakers make new rules about campaign ads, it will follow them.
Meanwhile, Facebook will let users who no longer wish to see political ads. Zuckerberg did not say when the facility would start.
"And for those of you who have already made up your mind and just want the election to end, we hear you - so we're also introducing the ability to see political ads," Zuckerberg wrote . "We will still remind you to vote."
Facebook wants millions of people to register for the 2020 US elections.
The company has faced backlash from its own employees, who have voiced concerns about President Donald Trump's positions, saying violence could spark violence in protest against police brutality. Facebook's response was different from Twitter, which tweeted a president's tweet about protests in Minnesota, stating on the back of a notice that it violated company rules. Facebook determined that Trump's controversial remarks in which he said "when the robbery begins, shootings begin" did not violate his rules against inciting violence.
In the op-ed, Zuckerberg stood by the company's approach to political speech. This, he said, was the best way to hold politicians accountable.
Facebook has previously helped people register to vote. In 2016, the company said it helped more than 2 million people register to vote.
"Everyone wants to see politicians responsible for what they say - and I know many people want us to restrain them and remove their content as much as possible. We have rules against speech that imminent physical harm. Will cause or suppress voting, and no one is exempt. He said, but accountability only works if we can see what our vote seekers are saying, even if we clearly dislike it Are what they say.
Twitter users can view Trump's comments if they click on the notice, but Facebook does not have the same feature.
Zuckerberg also acknowledged that the company was slow to prevent Russian interference in the 2016 election, but said it was more prepared this time. Facebook has removed more than 50 malicious accounts in the past year and 18 network accounts this year.
"This work is never finished, but we have learned a lot and adapted our system to protect it from interference," he said.
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