Facebook prepares for Trump to dispute the election results, considers political ad "kill...

[midian182]

Why it matters: Since 2016, Facebook has had to deal with the problem of election interference. We can expect it to happen again this November, but rather than coming from the likes of Russia, the social network is preparing for post-election meddling from President Trump.

Since admitting that foreign powers used the platform to influence the 2016 election through misinformation campaigns, Facebook has implemented a number of solutions to try and address similar problems occurring again: War rooms, postcards, new policies, collaboration with intelligence agencies, and more.

The New York Times reports that Facebook employees are now running through different post-election scenarios as part of its efforts to battle election interference, including attempts by Trump and his team to call the results into question.

Citing people with knowledge of Facebook’s plans, one scenario being prepared for is Trump using the service to delegitimize the results and wrongly state he won another four-years in office. He could also claim the results are invalid due to the use of mail-in ballots—an allegation that got him into trouble with Twitter last May.

Facebook will have to tread carefully to avoid accusations of censorship and conservative bias, of course. Unlike Twitter, it has never flagged any of Trump’s tweets, priding itself as a platform for free speech; it was only a few months ago that Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook does not want to be an “arbiter of truth.”

Zuckerberg has reportedly told staff that should any politician try to claim victory early on the site, it would consider adding a label explaining that the results were not final. There’s also talk of a “Kill Switch” for political advertising, which would turn off all political ads after November 3 if the election outcome was not immediately clear or the results are disputed.

Trump is no fan of Facebook, and this news will likely sour the president's relationship with social media firms even more. “The lengths to which Big Tech will go to obstruct President Trump truly know no bounds,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Zager. “Facebook is a social media website – not the arbiter of election results.”

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https://www.techspot.com/news/86481-facebook-prepares-trump-dispute-election-results-readies-political.html

 

[yRaz]

I understand this is a tech website and this technically is tech news, but do you guys have any idea what the comment section is going to end up looking like under this article?

 

[Uncle Al]

Ever see the Genesie River in Buffalo? ..... yeah, imagine that with a few random bodies floating by ......

 

[CBTex]

Elections are controlled by states. I think there is a heck of lot more potential for meddling at the state and local level than by Trump. Just look at Chicago's history of election corruption.

I cannot for the life of me fathom why we have such an insecure voting system. A more secure system would diffuse so many arguments. Maybe that's the reason. Both parties want everyone pissed off all the time.

 

[Burty117]

I understand this is a tech website and this technically is tech news, but do you guys have any idea what the comment section is going to end up looking like under this article?

I usually have at least one comment deleted in nearly every article I post a comment in these days. Regardless if they're offensive or not, some have even me just saying hi to someone who I haven't seen post here in a while and it got deleted.

They'll just delete all the comments they don't agree with without explanation.

 

[yRaz]

I usually have at least one comment deleted in nearly every article I post a comment in these days. Regardless if they're offensive or not, some have even me just saying hi to someone who I haven't seen post here in a while and it got deleted.

They'll just delete all the comments they don't agree with without explanation.

I usually watch techspot like a hawk because I mostly have no life and even have chances to check it multiple times throughout the day at work, I don't see too many comments get deleted. I have one every few months. But maybe they should delete the article and not the comments on this one.

Either way, this thread is going to turn into a dumpster fire pretty soon and it looks like it's already started. No one on this site want's to read this type of stuff, we get enough of this from whatever news we watch or read anyway.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

THANK YOU TECHSPOT for spreading awareness.

Failure to speak against this tyranny is nothing less than enabling.

I know that many of your readers are non-Americans and don't have any say in our elections process.

I'm glad that they can be told the truth about what's happening.

 

[ZackL04]

They should be doing the same in anticipation of Trump winning too no?

Im sure they are working both angles, if not, they should be. Or is it going to continue to be cool to rip and question the president if he is re-elected?

 

[dirtyferret]

I usually watch techspot like a hawk because I mostly have no life and even have chances to check it multiple times throughout the day at work, I don't see too many comments get deleted. I have one every few months. But maybe they should delete the article and not the comments on this one.

Either way, this thread is going to turn into a dumpster fire pretty soon and it looks like it's already started. No one on this site want's to read this type of stuff, we get enough of this from whatever news we watch or read anyway.

It is tech news, nothing wrong with a site being prepared and running through scenarios that may or may not come up.

 

[madboyv1]

Both parties want everyone pissed off all the time.

Sounds about right. If the constituents aren't mad about something how are you going to engage them otherwise? XD

Back to the article, tbh I wish a political ad kill switch in general was available, then reading/listening/watching anything during an election cycle would be so much bearable ha ha ha... Odd to see such a quick change in stance from Facebook for the third time(?). Actually no not really odd at all.

 

[Relayer]

Just think, if they'd thought of this 4 years ago we wouldn't have been treated to almost 4 years of whining Hillary comments, lol.

 

[quadibloc]

The lengths to which Big Tech will go to prevent a coup to overthrow American democracy truly know no bounds. Yay, Big Tech.

 

[OrumusST]

Yeah Democrats push to use the postal service which has been failing for years and is why most of us that need to ship things that require the items to arrive on time rarely use it. But they want to use this to handle 10s of millions of ballots. Even if they USPS was reliable it would be far FAR less secure then the system we use and Democrats are still complaining that they think some of those machines were compromised.

It's insane to think the same people who have no problem with hundreds of thousands of people "protesting" shoulder to shoulder have a problem voting in person. This is just a BS excuse because Democrats didn't learn from 2016. They have run another garbage candidate and they have only fear and hate on their side Vs hope and determination to rebuild better then ever on the other. If instead of pushing conspiracy theories for 4 years and claiming everyone who voted Trump was a racist, they instead had of LISTENED to people they would have run on policy and would have chosen a better candidate that inspires people not to hate other people but to work together to be better. I'll say it right here right now. If you think Trump is a racist and inspires hate it is because you listen to CNN. Listen to his speeches NOT CHOPPED UP versions. Listen to him at his rallies and you will find out you don't know anything about Trump. I think he is a narcissist. But in today's day and age of everyone posting everything about their lives on social media, that's par for the coarse, but he is also someone who sees problems and wants to solve them.

The establishment hates Trump because they don't control him. Simple as that. Establishment Republicans, Democrats and their media propaganda arms all hate him. Like the intervening years between 2016 election and now, they will stop at nothing to try to de-legitimize him. Mail in voting is not viable and not required. Dr. Fauci himself said with proper precautions it is safe.

 

[m3tavision]

THANK YOU TECHSPOT for spreading awareness.

Failure to speak against this tyranny is nothing less than enabling.

I know that many of your readers are non-Americans and don't have any say in our elections process.

I'm glad that they can be told the truth about what's happening.

You don't live in the USA. All of your posts are supporting Communist China. You just another wumao.. spreading fud. What is happening is that liberals are trying to get so non-citizens, and dead people can vote. Instead of verified 2-day voting.... with ID.

That is the tyranny that citizens of the United States faces... is liberal governers changing how their states vote... 6 months before a national election... because those liberal states/counties do not want accuracy.. they want power!

 

[netman]

"Trump is no fan of Facebook, and this news will likely sour the president's relationship with social media firms even more."____________Not True...! What Trump is doing with TikTok is to benefit Facebook...! In fact this could be a deal between them...Kill TikTok and I will make you re-elected...!

 

[Evernessince]

Yeah Democrats push to use the postal service which has been failing for years and is why most of us that need to ship things that require the items to arrive on time rarely use it. But they want to use this to handle 10s of millions of ballots. Even if they USPS was reliable it would be far FAR less secure then the system we use and Democrats are still complaining that they think some of those machines were compromised.

It's insane to think the same people who have no problem with hundreds of thousands of people "protesting" shoulder to shoulder have a problem voting in person. This is just a BS excuse because Democrats didn't learn from 2016. They have run another garbage candidate and they have only fear and hate on their side Vs hope and determination to rebuild better then ever on the other. If instead of pushing conspiracy theories for 4 years and claiming everyone who voted Trump was a racist, they instead had of LISTENED to people they would have run on policy and would have chosen a better candidate that inspires people not to hate other people but to work together to be better. I'll say it right here right now. If you think Trump is a racist and inspires hate it is because you listen to CNN. Listen to his speeches NOT CHOPPED UP versions. Listen to him at his rallies and you will find out you don't know anything about Trump. I think he is a narcissist. But in today's day and age of everyone posting everything about their lives on social media, that's par for the coarse, but he is also someone who sees problems and wants to solve them.

The establishment hates Trump because they don't control him. Simple as that. Establishment Republicans, Democrats and their media propaganda arms all hate him. Like the intervening years between 2016 election and now, they will stop at nothing to try to de-legitimize him. Mail in voting is not viable and not required. Dr. Fauci himself said with proper precautions it is safe.

I've used the postal service to ship thousands of packages. Not a single one has been lost and only 4 have been late (I can remember each time because they are so rare).

What you are saying about it are just plain false. I get 2 day shipping at a lower price than FedEx and UPS. They typically charge 2-3 times the amount for the same shipping speed. No, unlike what you said, anyone who values speed uses USPS. It wasn't until trump appointed his lackee to dismantle equipment did things start slowing down.

Stop regurgitating fox news and actually use the service before criticizing it.

 

[Lounds]

I mean this absolute lying Nob got a top job at Facebook. FYI to those who don't know, he basically lied his way into power and his party voted some of the nastiest laws in British history against the poorest in British society.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-45913587

 

[dirtyferret]

I've used the postal service to ship thousands of packages. Not a single one has been lost and only 4 have been late (I can remember each time because they are so rare).

What you are saying about it are just plain false. I get 2 day shipping at a lower price than FedEx and UPS. They typically charge 2-3 times the amount for the same shipping speed. No, unlike what you said, anyone who values speed uses USPS. It wasn't until trump appointed his lackee to dismantle equipment did things start slowing down.

Stop regurgitating fox news and actually use the service before criticizing it.

actually DHL, Fedex, and UPS use the postal service for the last leg in many of their deliveries as well. The post office also delivers to many isolated communities that Fedex/UPS would make you pay through the nose to deliver and/or simply drop the package off to the USPS.

Also last I checked (but you never know with trump) we don't ask the Department of the Navy or Department of Agriculture to go make a profit.

 

[Axle Grease]

And I thought our media was garbage. New Zealand's media has a 23% rating for trustworthiness, but yours is sh*t on stilts. I'd love to know the figures on it, but am not sure any recent poll has been conducted. The conspiracy theory that Trump intends to not concede the Presidency should he lose the election is about as fabricated as the Piss-Gate dossier.

 

[Todd Sauve]

Really, TechSpot should just steer clear of things political. It will upset one camp or another and this site is supposed to be about computer technology, is it not?

 

[Evernessince]

actually DHL, Fedex, and UPS use the postal service for the last leg in many of their deliveries as well. The post office also delivers to many isolated communities that Fedex/UPS would make you pay through the nose to deliver and/or simply drop the package off to the USPS.

Also last I checked (but you never know with trump) we don't ask the Department of the Navy or Department of Agriculture to go make a profit.

Yep, FedEx SmartPost and UPS Surepost both transfer the parcel to the USPS for final delivery.

The USPS is required to serve all Americans so it really is a life line to those in rural or remote areas. I've shipped supplies to organizations working in Puerto Rico in flat rate boxes at insanely low prices. Any other service would have charged me 5 times as much.

 

[Burty117]

I mean this absolute lying Nob got a top job at Facebook. FYI to those who don't know, he basically lied his way into power and his party voted some of the nastiest laws in British history against the poorest in British society.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-45913587

I had no idea this had happened! Wow, I don't have a particularly good opinion of Facebook but after hiring that douche bag, I don't know what made Facebook sink as low as hiring him.

 

[jbc029]

Yep, FedEx SmartPost and UPS Surepost both transfer the parcel to the USPS for final delivery.

The USPS is required to serve all Americans so it really is a life line to those in rural or remote areas. I've shipped supplies to organizations working in Puerto Rico in flat rate boxes at insanely low prices. Any other service would have charged me 5 times as much.

It isn't transferred to USPS for only rural or remote. I live in a 600k+ metro area and UPS hands them off for final delivery here by the postal service. And they aren't even remotely as infallible as you claim.

Just this week, I had a package delivered to the wrong address by the USPS. The only reason I got it is because the neighbor from 2 blocks over brought it over herself and she actually read the address.

 

[Evernessince]

It isn't transferred to USPS for only rural or remote. I live in a 600k+ metro area and UPS hands them off for final delivery here by the postal service. And they aren't even remotely as infallible as you claim.

Just this week, I had a package delivered to the wrong address by the USPS. The only reason I got it is because the neighbor from 2 blocks over brought it over herself and she actually read the address.

I wasn't saying that. The first and second paragraphs are separate, hence the period and space lol.

 

[richcz3]

Anyone who is OK with, or openly support the "Protests" during the Stay at Home: Lockdown, should definitely go to Public Polling Places and Vote. Given that there is early voting in many cities, there's no need to put it off until the last day.

I would never leave it up to the USPS to handle my vote. I get neighbors mail and packages regularly. Not instilling any confidence they can handle a National scale vote.