MENLO PARK, Calif — Facebook executives are reportedly holding daily meetings to discuss how the social media network should respond if President Donald Trump uses the platform to try to delegitimize the election results if he loses. 


What You Need To Know

  • Facebook is holding daily meetings about the possibility of Trump using it to delegitimize election results

  • The president has repeatedly said, without evidence, mail-in voting leads to fraud. 

  • White House says Trump will work to protect the integrity of elections

The New York Times reported Friday that the company is preparing steps to take if Trump falsely claims he won re-election or tries to invalidate the results by declaring the U.S. Postal Service lost mail-in ballots or other groups meddled with the vote. The report cites people with knowledge of Facebook’s plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Among the measures Facebook is considering is a “kill switch” to shut off post-election political ads that could be used to spread misinformation. The social media giant currently does not fact-check political advertising. 

YouTube and Twitter are also bracing for a post-election period that could become complicated, the Times reported. 

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, told the Times, “President Trump will continue to work to ensure the security and integrity of our elections.”

Trump has spent recent weeks railing against widespread mail-in voting this fall, arguing, without evidence, that it could lead to a fraudulent result. He’s also avoided answering whether he would step down if he loses. 

In 2016, social media became a breeding ground for misinformation by Russian operatives and fake-news sites, which forced the networks into implementing new policies. 

Trump’s posts have proved to be challenging for the social networks. On one hand, the president of the United States’ remarks are newsworthy and of public interest. On the other hand, he has, as of last month, made more than 20,000 false or misleading statements while in office, according to a Washington Post tracker

After largely letting Trump’s post stand for years, Twitter and Facebook have in recent weeks have either removed or placed disclaimers on some of his posts they deemed misleading, including when the president said mail-in voting leads to fraud and that children are “almost immune” to the coronavirus.

After Twitter fact-checked and flagged a Trump tweet in May, the president signed an executive order aimed at limiting legal protections enjoyed by social media companies.

If Facebook begins blocking Trump’s posts after the election, the social network could open itself up to accusations of censorship or anti-Republican bias. Zuckerberg has said in the past Facebook respects free speech, although it does have its limits, including this week when it removed hundreds of groups, pages and ads tied to the right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory that it says promoted violence.