'We Have A Big Responsibility': Facebook Rolls Out New Election Security Measures
- 2019-10-24
- NPR
Facebook announced new efforts Monday to curb the spread of false information on its platform ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
But, in an acknowledgement of the struggle the social network faces to stay ahead of groups intent on manipulating its users, Facebook said it had taken down another set of disinformation networks, this time tied to Iran and Russia. That adds to the more than 50 such networks the company said it has already removed in the past year.
"Elections have changed significantly since 2016, but Facebook has changed, too," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, on a call with reporters. "We know that we have a big responsibility to secure our platform and stay ahead of some of these new threats to election security," he said, adding that the issue is one of his "top priorities."
Facebook has been stepping up efforts to convince lawmakers and the public that it has learned the lessons of 2016 and is doing enough to protect users from manipulation by foreign influence campaigns.