Facebook extends political ad ban due to contested US election

Facebook had anticipated that the period after the US presidential elections would be a period ripe for fake news and misinformation, but the company likely believed this would last only a few days rather than months.

On the 4th November, the company suspended all political ads to prevent them from being used to manipulate the electorate after they have already cast their ballot, potentially raising tensions and leading to avoidable conflict.

Today, in light of the ongoing litigation around the result and accusations of electoral fraud Facebook has announced that they will be extending the ban for another month, saying:

The temporary pause for ads about politics and social issues in the US continues to be in place as part of our ongoing efforts to protect the election. Advertisers can expect this to last another month, though there may be an opportunity to resume these ads sooner.

That opportunity would presumably be if Donald Trump concedes the election to Joe Biden, otherwise, it is expected that the outcome of the electoral college in mid-December will have the final word on the issue.

Conservative voices have already accused the social networking company of suppressing their voices and siding with the Biden campaign. Facebook has, however, said their internal monitoring tools have also begun registering an increase in “violence and incitement trends,” and the company has already banned a number of groups they said were advocating violence to prevent the election being “stolen”.

via the verge