Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the social network would stop accepting new political ads in the week before the US presidential election in November amid concerns that its loose rules could once again be exploited to interfere with the vote like in 2016. The announcement comes amid heightened scrutiny of Facebook’s influence on politics including in countries like India where the social media giant has been accused of ignoring hate speech by BJP leaders to placate the ruling party.
In a Facebook post announcing the changes, Mr Zuckerberg, chief executive of the world’s biggest social network, wrote that he was concerned about the unique challenges voters would face due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted a surge in voting by mail. “I’m also worried that with our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to be finalized, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country,” he said. Mr Zuckerberg has previously defended his decision to allow for a freewheeling political conversation on Facebook.
