Facebook will send a notification when the president of the United States is elected
The social network will display on the platform and on Instagram an official message with the name of the winner of the presidential elections
US presidential elections (image: Facebook) When in the United States the count of the ballot papers will finally provide reliable data on the actual winner, Facebook will send a notification with the name of the new president. This is the solution designed by the social network to prevent political fake news from spreading online. When the winner is officially announced, the Menlo Park company plans to show their name in a notification that will appear at the top of their Facebook and Instagram apps with a direct link to their voting information center. The notification will appear exclusively to geo-located users in the United States.Facebook and Instagram voting information center will inform users about the election winner's name (photo: Facebook)
Facebook , Twitter and even TikTok, however, had to intervene with blocking actions of groups, which spread false news, and of hashtags linked to electoral conspiracies.
Closure of the Stop the Steal 2020 group
The Menlo Park social network had to act by closing a group created after accusations of baseless electoral fraud insinuated by the current President Donald Trump. Called “Stop the Steal 2020” the group in a few hours had surpassed the 300,000 members sharing disinformation and organizing (armed) protests against election officials who are currently counting ballots in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada.Facebook statement: "In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group 'Stop the Steal,' which was creating real-world events…
- Ryan Mac 🙃 (@ RMac18) November 5, 2020
In a statement released to the press, Facebook explains that “in line with the exceptional measures we are taking During this heightened period of tension, we removed the “Stop the Steal 2020” group, which was creating events in the real world. The group was organized around the delegitimization of the electoral process and we saw worrying requests for violence from some members of the group ".
Blocking of hashtags
Together with Facebook, also Twitter and TikTok are taking action to limit as much as possible that fake news can cause unrest. Therefore all social networks have blocked the hashtags #SharpieGate and #StopTheSteal, launched by Donald Trump Jr. and his collaborators on Twitter.🚨🚨🚨 The amount of FRAUD being reported in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin is unreal. Please report personal experiences. Please have all facts and evidence. #StopTheSteal pic.twitter.com/2XKGGxQA2a
- Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 5, 2020
These hashtags help convey false conspiracy theories linked to electoral fraud, causing potentially dangerous demonstrations in cities where the counting of votes is still ongoing.
Twitter and TikTok actions
TikTok also intervened by eliminating some videos to stem the most disinformation is possible on its portal, however, keeping online the video in which Donald Trump prematurely declares his victory.ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020
Twitter finally spoke again on the umpteenth tweet of President Trump who, with his personal profile, falsely claimed that any vote obtained after election day will not be counted. Also on this occasion the social network hid the tweet because it violated the rules on political disinformation and added a label under it explaining that some votes are still being counted.
