Facebook Temporarily Stops Recommending Political Groups To Combat Election Misinformation

Topline

Facebook on Friday said stoped recommending new political and social issue groups, BuzzFeed News first reported, one of many preemptive steps Facebook is taking to cut down on election day chaos and misinformation.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Key Facts

The move is significant because Facebook groups in particular are rife with misinformation and conspiracy theories, researchers say.

It’s unclear when Facebook will turn on group recommendations again, but the change is only meant to be temporary.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said he is worried about civil unrest if the results aren’t immediately determined on Election Day.

Facebook already stopped recommending health-related groups in September to address coronavirus and other health misinformation.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

Key Background

Facebook has said it will suspend new political ads both before and after the election, and Instagram announced Friday it would temporarily remove “recent” hashtags. The company will also remove calls for people to engage in “poll watching” when those posts use “militarized language” and will notify users that counting is still in progress if a candidate or party declares premature victory.

What To Watch For

Cutting back on group recommendations is one prong of Facebook’s strategy for dealing with the election after Russia used the platform to influence public opinion in 2016. Though this time around, research has increasingly shown that domestic misinformation—spreading in Facebook groups, for example—may be even a bigger threat.

Tangent

Facebook reported better-than-expected revenue on Thursday even as advertisers staged a boycott earlier this year to pressure the company into taking more aggressive action to root out hate speech and fake news.

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