Beginning Thursday, U.S. Facebook users who post about voting may start seeing an addendum to their messages — labels directing readers to authoritative information about the upcoming presidential election.

It’s the social network’s latest step to to combat election-related misinformation on its platform as the Nov. 3 election nears — one in which many voters may be submitting ballots by mail for the first time. Facebook began adding similar links to posts about in-person and mail-in balloting by federal politicians, including President Donald Trump, in July.

These labels will link to a new voter information hub similar to one about COVID-19 that Facebook says has been seen by billions of users around the world. The labels will read, “Visit the Voting Information Center for election resources and official updates.”

Despite such efforts, Facebook continues to face widespread criticism around how it handles misinformation around elections and other matters. The company has generally refused to fact-check ads by politicians, for instance, and a two-year audit of its civil rights practices faulted the company for leaving U.S. elections “exposed to interference by the President and others who seek to use misinformation to sow confusion and suppress voting.”

The effectiveness of such labels will depend on how well Facebook’s artificial intelligence system identifies the posts that really need them, said Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Civic Media. If every post containing the word “vote” or “voting” gets an informational link, he said, “people will start ignoring those links.”

Facebook expects the voter hub to reach at least 160 million people in the U.S., said Emily Dalton Smith, who serves as head of social impact at the company. The primary focus is registering people to vote, she said, but the information people see will evolve throughout the election season.

“This is a unique election and a unique election season,” she said. “Certainly we have never gone through an election during a global pandemic.”

Other tech companies, Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, have undertaken similar efforts around the November election. Twitter said it is working on expanding its policies to address “new and unique challenges” related to this year’s elections, including misinformation around mail-in voting.

Looking ahead to November, Facebook said it is “actively speaking with election officials about the potential of misinformation around election results as an emerging threat.”

The company did not give details on the potential threats, but said that a prolonged ballot process where results are not immediately clear “has the potential to be exploited in order to sow distrust in the election outcome.”

“One way we plan to fight this is by using the Voting Information Center and the US Elections digest in Facebook News to make sure people have easy access to the latest, authoritative information and news on and after Election Night,” Naomi Gleit, vice president of product management and social impact, wrote in a blog post.

Related Stories
‹
Big Tech Grapples With Russian State Media, Propaganda
Written by DAVID KLEPPER and AMANDA SEITZ As Russia’s war in Ukraine plays out for the world on social media, big tech platforms are moving to restrict Russian state media from using their platforms to spread propaganda and misinformation. Google announced Tuesday that it’s blocking the YouTube channels of those outlets in Europe “effective immediately” but acknowledged “it’ll […]
Inside the ‘Big Wave’ of Misinformation Targeted at Latinos
Written by AMANDA SEITZ and WILL WEISSERT Before last year’s presidential election, Facebook ads targeting Latino voters described Joe Biden as a communist. During his inauguration, another conspiracy theory spread online and on Spanish-language radio warning that a brooch worn by Lady Gaga signaled Biden was working with shadowy, leftist figures abroad. And in the […]
3 Social Media CEOs Face Grilling by GOP Senators on Bias
The CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are facing a grilling by Republican senators making unfounded allegations that the tech giants show anti-conservative bias. The Senate Commerce Committee has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai to testify for a hearing Wednesday. The executives agreed to appear remotely after being […]
Facebook Moves to Target Misinformation Before Election
With just two months left until the U.S. presidential election, Facebook says it is taking more steps to encourage voting, minimize misinformation and reduce the likelihood of post-election “civil unrest.” The company said Thursday it will restrict new political ads in the week before the election and remove posts that convey misinformation about COVID-19 and […]
Duke Professor Article: False News Stories More Likely to Be Shared Online
Fake news and the spreading of misinformation have existed as long as journalism itself. Throughout American history, the most common remedy to combat dissemination of lies has been what professor of Public Policy at Duke Philip Napoli calls “counter speech.” “Counter speech is the idea that the truth is inherently capable of winning out over […]
After Trump’s Win, Russian Disinformation Aims To Drive a Wedge Between the US and Ukraine
Since the U.S. election on Nov. 5, the Kremlin has used state-run media and its networks of fake news sites and social media accounts to push divisive narratives about the war.
Russia Amplified Hurricane Disinformation To Drive Americans Apart, Researchers Find
Russia has helped amplify and spread false and misleading internet claims about recent hurricanes in the United States and the federal government’s response
Elon Musk Has Often Inflamed Politically Tense Moments, Raising Worries for the US Election
Written by ALI SWENSON Hours after an apparent attempt on Donald Trump’s life over the weekend, Elon Musk took to his social platform X to post a thinking emoji and a comment that “no one is even trying to assassinate” the Democratic president and vice president. In the midst of anti-Muslim riots in the U.K. — which were ginned […]
Pro-Moscow Voices Tried To Steer Ohio Train Disaster Debate
Written by DAVID KLEPPER Soon after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month, anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk’s new verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility. The accounts, which parroted Kremlin talking points on myriad topics, claimed without […]
UNC Study: 'Habitual' Social Media Use Changes Kids' Brain Development
Do you remember the time before social media? For children and young adults, social media is a significant part of their lives — and we’re still learning how it’s affecting them.  A study conducted by UNC researchers found a habitual checking of social media can impact brain development in adolescents. 
›