Critics call for Facebook to protect democracy with 3 urgent steps

The group said it was formed as an emergency intervention aimed at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his employees to protect the integrity of the general election.

First, it is calling for a ban on all paid advertising mentioning presidential election results in the critical period when the ballots are being counted. It said the ban should run from election night until one candidate is declared president-elect and the other concedes, adding this could prevent violence from breaking out if the results are contested.

Between the time Facebook's moderators were first alerted that the group violated its policies and the time it actually took action, an armed gunman named Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly shot and killed two protesters in Kenosha in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The establishment of the board comes more than a year after Facebook announced it would implement its own oversight body to hear appeals from users who believe their posts have been removed in error. The company said its board would be independent from the company, and was expected to begin hearing complaints in mid to late October.

Ads making premature declarations of victory were already prohibited and Rob Leathern, director of product management at Facebook, added Wednesday that any ads that attempt to undermine the election will now also be prohibited.

There have also been new rules in terms of the nature of content that can be hosted on the platform, particularly in relation to information about COVID-19, but Facebook did not comment on the main complaint of this new oversight committee -- that these rules are not implemented effectively.

Original article