Facebook is reportedly adding new measures to censor posts they say contain “misinformation” about the ongoing presidential election, which has yet to be called for either candidate as ballots continue to be counted in the last few swing states.
According to the New York Times, Facebook is quietly adding obstacles to people’s ability to share certain posts the platform has decided are “misleading,” hoping it will slow the spread of “misinformation” – i.e., anything Facebook doesn’t agree with – and keep it from going viral.
From the NYT:
Facebook plans to add more “friction” — such as an additional click or two — before people can share posts and other content, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The company will also demote content on the News Feed if it contains election-related misinformation, making it less visible, and limit the distribution of election-related Facebook Live streams, the people said.
The report adds Facebook, whose algorithm has long relied on people's ability to share posts, may have rolled out these changes yesterday.
“As vote counting continues, we are seeing more reports of inaccurate claims about the election,” Facebook said in a statement, saying the platform will be “taking additional temporary steps” to limit posts they've determined to be inaccurate or misleading.
Also Read: SILENCE! Twitter Censors Multiple Election Related Trump Posts
The move is the latest in a series of roadblocks social media platforms have put in place to censor posts questioning potential voter fraud as Democrat Joe Biden edges out President Donald Trump thanks to mail-in votes. Concerns over late-night vote counting, the removal of authorized GOP observers from voting centers, incorrect vote counts, and the inclusion of invalid or late-mailed ballots have been raised in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – all of which currently show Biden in the lead by slim margins as we head into the third post-election day. Many of those posts – even those simply stating facts or asking valid questions – as well as posts from Trump himself have been censored on both Facebook and Twitter.