Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and some company executives have reportedly been planning a 'kill switch' to shut off political adver...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and some company executives have reportedly been planning a 'kill switch' to shut off political advertising after the election is over to curb misinformation.
Facebook is looking at post-election scenarios that include attempts by President Donald Trump or his campaign to use the platform to delegitimize the results, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.
The proposed 'kill switch' for political advertising would turn off political ads after November 3 if the election's outcome was not immediately clear, or if Trump disputed the results.
The discussion about post-election strategy remains fluid, and it was unclear whether Facebook would follow through on the proposal, the sources said.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and some company executives have reportedly been planning a 'kill switch' to shut off political advertising after the election
A Facebook spokesman declined to comment in detail on the company's post-election plans when reached by DailyMail.com.
The spokesman said: 'we are considering a range of political advertising options during the closing period of the election.'
The social media company has been under fire for exempting politicians' ads and speech from fact checks.
Last year, smaller rival Twitter banned political ads, but Facebook has maintained that it does not want to stifle political speech.
Twitter in recent months has added fact-checking labels and warnings to tweets by President Trump, including some of his tweets about mail-in voting.
Facebook, which decided not to act on such content, has faced criticism from employees and lawmakers.
Facebook is looking at post-election scenarios that include attempts by President Donald Trump or his campaign to use the platform to delegitimize the results
In June, Facebook started labeling all posts and ads about voting with links to authoritative information, including those from politicians.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign published an open letter in June to Facebook's Zuckerberg calling for the company to fact check politicians' ads in the two weeks ahead of the election.
Separately, Facebook confirmed on Thursday that Zuckerberg was interviewed earlier this week at a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigative hearing as part of the government's antitrust probe into the social media company.
'We are committed to cooperating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have,' the social media company said in a statement.
The FTC told Facebook in June 2019 it was probing whether the company has engaged in unlawful monopolistic practices.
Facebook faces similar probes by the Justice Department and by state attorneys general and has said the investigations are looking at prior acquisitions and business practices involving 'social networking or social media services, digital advertising, and/or mobile or online applications.'
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