Facebook bans US ads that call voting fraud widespread or election invalid

iStock [illustration]

Facebook on Wednesday banned ads on its flagship website and Instagram that claim widespread voting fraud, suggest US election results would be invalid, or which attack any method of voting.

The company announced the new rules in a blog post, adding to earlier restrictions on premature claims of election victory.

The move came a day after US President Donald Trump used the first televised debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden to amplify his baseless claims that the November 3 presidential election will be "rigged".

Trump has been especially critical of mail-in ballots, and he cited a number of small unrelated incidents to argue that fraud was already happening at scale.

Facebook has been under fire for refusing to fact-check political ads more broadly and for rampant organic misinformation.

Citing hate speech rules, it also moved Wednesday to remove Trump campaign ads suggesting that immigrants could be a significant source of coronavirus infections.

Facebook said the new election ad prohibition would include those that "portray voting or census participation as useless/meaningless" or that "delegitimize any lawful method or process of voting or voting tabulation... as illegal, inherently fraudulent or corrupt".

 

More from International news

  • US prosecutors to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione

    U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing the CEO of UnitedHealth Group's insurance division Brian Thompson in New York last year.

  • UN warns window to find Myanmar quake survivors closing

    Aid groups in Myanmar on Tuesday described scenes of devastation and desperation after an earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people, stressing an urgent need for food, water and shelter and warning the window to find survivors was fast closing.

  • Trump administration begins mass layoffs at health agencies

    The Trump administration has fired staff at U.S. health agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health, as it embarked on its plan to cut 10,000 health jobs, according to sources familiar with the situation and a health official.

  • Israel says it 'eliminated' Hezbollah operative in Beirut strike

    The Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah operative in an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs early on Tuesday, while three other people were reported killed and seven injured, further testing a shaky four-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

News