Facebook is reportedly taking some "emergency" steps to slow the spread of 2020 election misinformation.
The platform will be adding "more 'friction'" before users "can share posts and other content" and will "demote content on the News Feed if it contains election-related misinformation," as well as limit the distribution of Facebook Live streams related to the election, The New York Times reports.
These changes, the Times writes, are "designed to cool down angry Americans" as false claims about widespread voter fraud spreads online and President Trump baselessly asserts that he's being cheated out of a victory. A winner in the presidential race has yet to be called as several key battleground states continue to count legally cast votes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the news, in a statement saying that "as vote counting continues, we are seeing more reports of inaccurate claims about the election," and it will be taking temporary steps to "keep this content from reaching more people." The "emergency measures," Axios writes, are "like those used in countries where democracy is under threat."
Facebook had previously shut down a pro-Trump group called "Stop the Steal," which had amassed 360,000 members and that the company said "was organized around the delegitimization of the election process" and included "worrying calls for violence from some members."
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foregroundThe Explainer The network is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fallThe Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pauseThe Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Supreme Court allows social media age check lawSpeed Read The court refused to intervene in a decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring social media users to verify their ages
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestoneSpeed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two yearsSpeed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on XSpeed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
Disney, Universal sue AI firm over 'plagiarism'Speed Read The studios say that Midjourney copied characters from their most famous franchises
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellitesSpeed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodesSpeed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
