City
Epaper

Facebook plans drastic measures if US polls descend into chaos: Report

By IANS | Updated: September 22, 2020 20:40 IST

San Francisco, Sep 22 Facebook is bracing for tough measures to restrict content in case the November elections ...

Open in App

San Francisco, Sep 22 Facebook is bracing for tough measures to restrict content in case the November elections in the US descend into chaos or violent protests, according to a report in the Financial Times on Tuesday.

The plans were revealed by Facebook's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, in an interview to the newspaper.

"There are some break-glass options available to us if there really is an extremely chaotic and, worse still, violent set of circumstances," Clegg was quoted as saying.

Facebook is under pressure to help maintain the integrity of the elections as it has faced criticism for failing to contain the spread of disinformation and hate speech on the platform.

It was even accused of failing to prevent attempts to create divisions in American society through disinformation campaigns by foreign players during the 2016 presidential election.

The stakes appear to be even higher this time with reports of similar attempts to influence the US presidential elections by groups operating from Russia, China and Iran.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month announced additional steps it is taking to help secure the integrity of the US elections by encouraging voting, connecting people to authoritative information, and reducing the risks of post-election confusion.

These include measures to attach an informational label to content that seeks to delegitimise the outcome of the election or discuss the legitimacy of voting methods, for example, by claiming that lawful methods of voting will lead to fraud.

( With inputs from IANS )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Tags: usMark ZuckerbergSan FranciscoFinancial TimesFacebookNick CleggSan francisco bayFacebook connectivityJose d'saAfter facebook
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalEarthquake in Russia: Quake of Magnitude 8.0 Strikes Kamchatka Peninsula; Tsunami Warning Issued

InternationalNASA Layoffs: 20% or 3,870 Employees to Exit US Space Agency

InternationalMichigan Plane Crash: 2 Killed After Small Aircraft Crashes Into Storage Facility Near Lowell City Airport in US

MumbaiMumbai: Uttarakhand Woman Sexually Assaulted in Andheri Hotel by Facebook Friend; Accused Arrested

International'System-Wide Ground Stop': Alaska Airlines Grounded Over 200 Planes Due to IT Outage

Technology Realted Stories

Technology172 hydrocarbon discoveries in 10 years, 62 offshore, as Modi govt opens ‘No-Go’ Zones: Hardeep Puri

TechnologyNMDC records over 42 pc jump in iron ore production in July

TechnologyFinolex Industries Q1 profit crashes 80 pc YoY, revenue down over 8 pc

TechnologyTop 10 largest firms shed Rs 1.35 lakh crore in a week; IT firms lead losses

TechnologyChatGPT may face capacity crunches ahead of GPT-5 launch: Sam Altman