Once again, @Facebook refuses to enforce its own, clearly spelled out policies - this time about election misinformation. Thread.
@Facebook How any person could interpret Trump’s tweets as anything but a violation of FB's policy against “Misrepresentation of who can vote, qualifications for voting, whether a vote will be counted, and what information and/or materials must be provided in order to vote” is beyond me.
@Facebook Facebook is actively aiding and abetting the efforts of a candidate on the ballot, and sitting president, to undermine the conduct of free and fair elections in the United States, and in clear violation of its own policies.
@Facebook Facebook has shown, yet again, that its policies as written are meaningless. And, when Facebook’s policies are meaningless in practice, it simply opens the door to bad actors who have nothing to fear from undermining democratic elections for political gain.
As such, Facebook is actively working to enable and protect anti-democratic rhetoric that potentially will have a real material effect in November.
Imagine a close election that the president refuses to accept because of a false (or cynical) belief in fraud. Imagine a close election that his supporters refuse to accept because of a false (or cynical) belief in fraud. The president is laying the groundwork for that.
Counter to its own clear policies, Facebook is allowing a candidate on the ballot to openly question the integrity of the vote in advance of the election, without evidence and in direct opposition to authoritative and trustworthy information from state administrators of elections
Facebook has no obligation to respect speech that will fundamentally undermine free and fair elections, regardless of the speaker. This is an active choice, and one that puts Facebook's bottom line above the necessary guardrails that safeguard democratic institutions.
Sadly, in a world where political institutions and parties are failing to protect democracies, private platforms are increasingly called upon to play this role. And Facebook is simply not suited to the task, even though it recognizes its necessity in its own policies.
