Facebook on Thursday unveiled new tools and policies around the 2020 election, including the polling station, describing the company as a "one-stop-shop" for information about voting.
There was an
extension last month with post-linked labels from politicians about voting on
new policies. For example, President Trump's post about mail-in voting in late
July hinted to the public to show usa.gov/voting, which contains basic
information about the election.
The label said
in a blog post that the label will be launched’ on Thursday. Instagram and
Facebook users are expected’ to come forward with an affiliate about voting.
Labels will
appear on Facebook to complement the Voting Information Center, with the aim of
helping users register to vote with a new section on Facebook and Instagram.
Earlier this year Facebook announced an initiative to help register at least 4
million voters this year. The company said in a blog post that the Polling
Information Center will help guide users to websites that offer registration.
The
information center will contain information about issues such as mail-in voting
from state election officials and other non-traditional civic bodies.
Facebook and
other social media platforms are under scrutiny over how they are handling
false information during this year’s election.
Facebook has
faced considerable criticism from Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups
over its policies, which are generally more generous than others when promoting
affiliate positions from politicians. Some, including Biden's Democratic
presidential campaign, have called on the company to reverse its policy of
excluding political statements from actual scrutiny.
Facebook said
in a blog post that it was "actively talking to election officials about
the potential for misinformation about election results."
"It is
possible to use a lengthy ballot process to increase mistrust in the election
result," the company said, citing the expansion of mail-in voting and the
possibility of election night results not coming. "We plan to fight this
by digesting the Voting Information Center and the U.S. election into Facebook
News to ensure that people have access to the latest, official information and
news on and out of election night. Easily access it."
The initiative
comes a day after several tech companies, including Google, Twitter, Reddit and
Microsoft released a statement on their "ongoing election security
cooperation". Company representatives held a meeting with U.S. government
agencies this week, the joint statement said.
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