Election misinformation is a huge concern for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. This is why new labels are set to appear at the bottom part of the posts, warning people of premature win declarations.
Twitter and Facebook are preparing for an onslaught of misinformation ahead of the U.S. elections on Tuesday, including posts with premature win announcements.
As Americans cast their votes through mail-in ballots amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s highly unlikely that real winners will be announced by Tuesday evening. More than 96 million people have already voted before Election Day, CNN’s Edison Research and Catalist said. According to the election officials, it may take days to count all of the votes.
Social media networks are preparing, just in case some politicians declare victory even before the official results are projected. Axios even reported on Sunday that President Donald Trump himself reportedly told his confidants that, if he’s ahead, he’ll declare a win by election night.
Both Twitter and Facebook created new labels in order to warn people that votes are still being counted. They say that they are planning to direct users to the correct information.
On Monday, they showed what these labels will appear like. Users will be able to see them below postings that declare premature wins. The labels on Twitter will be blue, and will come with an exclamation mark.
As per Twitter, it will only consider an election result official if it’s announced by a state administrator, or if the calls are created by at least two of seven reliable news outlets. These outlets include Decision Desk HQ, NBC News, ABC, CNN, CBS, Associated Press or Fox News.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s labels will be black, and will also appear below posts that declare premature victories. It will state that votes are still being counted, and that there is no winner yet. Similar labels will appear on Instagram, also owned by Facebook.
According to Facebook, they will depend on Associated Press, the National Election Pool/Edison through Reuters, and six major media outlets and independent desks to determine when a presidential winner is projected.
These labels appear similar to those notices users see for other kinds of information, including coronavirus statements.
Dealing with misinformation has always been difficult for these social media networks. They even face allegations from various conservatives that they’re trying to influence the elections. Twitter and Facebook have denied these claims repeatedly.
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