Facebook Announces Plans To Block Political Ads Before The Election

If you've been on facebook over the last couple years, you know how political it has gotten.  But leading up to the election, they're hoping to scale it back a bit.

No...they won't be able to stop your family or your friends from saying whatever they are going to say about their favorite (or least favorite) candidate (unfortunately), but when it comes to paid ads they can.

According to The Washington Post, Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that they will be blocking new political ads in the seven days before the election.

The key word there is "new." Ads that were placed earlier will be able to continue running.

Other things they plan to do:

• Expand its efforts to remove content that might serve to suppress voting
• Attach labels to posts that suggest that casting a ballot puts voters at risk of contracting covid-19,
• Label campaign claims of victory before results are considered final with users directed to authoritative information

"This election is not going to be business as usual. We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest."

There's no question that there is a ton of information out there for us.  The problem is, many people don't search to see how much of that information is true before simply posting it on facebook.

And let's be honest...most of us are guilty of this.  Becoming an informed voter on the real facts has become a real chore these days.  But what is the phrase?  With great power comes great responsibility.  Voting is very powerful...but it's up to us to be responsible with that right.