Facebook’s Attempts To Be Better Before Upcoming Elections

Facebook has been under severe scrutiny in the recent past and for all the right reasons. Facebook has been a part of multiple scandals and scams, whether it is them using user data for better targeting of ads, or multiple data leaks from their server. In a recent breach, data of around 30 million users was leaked, 29 million had names and emails stolen. Out of which 14 million included very specific data (birthdays, employment, etc.). Facebook came on record to state that FBI requested the company to not reveal who might be behind the attack. The hack was surrounding a feature known as “View As,” which enables users to see what their Facebook profile looks like when other users look at it. Before that was a hack that affected over 50 million Facebook users, which was also surrounding the same feature.

Data breaches are not the only thing Facebook has been dealing with. Recently, a lot of users complained regarding their Facebook app not working. Whilst all this, it was reported that Facebook was losing its grip on US teens as many had decided to quit the app. A survey from the Pew Research Centre suggests that Facebook has lost 20% of its U.S. teen users in the last three years.

Other problems Facebook has been dealing with include fake news, election interference, better protecting our community from abuse, and making sure people have more control of their information. Facebook has taken serious actions to tackle the fake news problem and have had success in it to a certain extent. A few months back they also launched a tool, which helps users check sources, and rat out their friends who cannot fact-check.

Let’s talk about how Facebook is prepping for the elections:

One of Facebook’s core principles is to provide people with a platform to make their voices heard. That’s the reason why anyone can post anything they want without having to ask for permission first. But this also leads to people abusing their services, including during the elections. In 2016, Facebook was finding it hard to combat with networks of fake accounts spreading division and misinformation. They have already dealt with economic incentives to spread misinformation. Facebook has admitted that they have made steady progress, but they still face sophisticated, well-funded adversaries. And, following are Facebook’s efforts to help protect the free and fair elections at the heart of every democracy.

Fake Accounts:

Facebook has been focused on targeting and removing fake accounts with the help of advanced machine learning. They claim that they built a system that blocks millions of fake accounts in a day. You can also track their progress in removing fake accounts through this Transparency Report.

Misinformation:

Facebook has stated that misinformation is primarily spread through fake accounts — especially politically-motivated misinformation and propaganda. Facebook dealt with these issues by disrupting their economic incentives. Facebook believes that if they make it harder for them to make money, then they will typically give up and do something else instead. That’s why Facebook has blocked anyone who has repeatedly spread misinformation from using their ads to make money.

Ads transparency and verification:

Facebook understands that advertisers are to be held accountable for what they promote and that fake accounts are not allowed to advertise. They’ve made several changes to their policy and now has a higher standard of ads transparency. Their verification process is also very stringent and could take up to a few days for an ad to get approved.

Facebook has admitted that their CEO Mark Zuckerburg, COO Sheryl Sandberg and other top executives will be monitoring the Indian polls very closely as we are the largest democracy in the world with more than 750 million voters. This will be Facebook’s biggest election engagement after the Cambridge Analytica (CA) scandal broke out in March of this year. Facebook has over 250 million users in India, which the political parties and candidates will try to sell their propaganda, too. Apart from this, last year, Facebook tied up with the Election Commission of India to remind 18-year-olds to register to vote before local elections. Anyone who turned 18 between before December 31st received a News Feed encouraging them to register to vote.

Round-up:

Facebook may not have been prepared for this in 2016, but they have now developed sophisticated systems that combine technology and people to prevent election interference on their service. This is their effort to work on a much broader challenge of how Facebook operates to be more proactive about protecting their community.