Facebook curbs political ads for 7 days before US presidential election

Bracing for a contentious election with no immediate results and possible civil unrest, Facebook is enacting a host of measures to ensure its platform is not used to sow chaos and spread misinformation before, during and after the U.S. presidential election.

But it’s not clear the changes are enough.

The company said Thursday it will restrict new political ads in the week before the election and remove posts that convey misinformation about COVID-19 and voting. It will also attach links with official results to posts by candidates and campaigns that prematurely declare victory.

This election is not going to be business as usual. We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Thursday.