Facebook takes extra measures to prevent manipulation of elections

After the experiences of the previous American Presidential elections, in which fake news was disseminated on social media and attempts were made to hack into the accounts of political candidates and campaign employees, Facebook is now taking additional measures.

Facebook will come up with a pilot in which the security measures for American political campaigns will be expanded. Candidates working at federal or state level, together with their employees, are given the opportunity to request additional security for their pages and individual accounts.

Additional support

Facebook offers political candidates first and foremost support in activating and setting up two-stage verification. Facebook will also proactively monitor their accounts, both through automated processes and by setting up human resources there. In addition, priority is given to reporting on any suspicious activity involving campaign staff. If one account is attacked, Facebook also checks affiliate accounts.

If the trial is successful, Facebook will extend the pilot to other elections and certain users, including government employees. The trial is one of the ways in which the company fulfils the promises made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the past. For example, he stated that his company had not done enough to anticipate abuse by malicious parties during elections.

Hundreds of fake accounts

In recent months, the company has already removed hundreds of fake accounts and pages as a result of measures. In terms of posts and activity, some of them were reminiscent of the Russia-supported Internet Research Agency, which was active in 2016 and aimed at manipulating the American presidential elections.

For this reason, large tech companies are already under the microscope, as more and more clarity arises about the way in which social media have tried to influence the outcome of the elections. Other Western countries are now also looking at whether there has been any interference in their own elections, and it would appear that the United States, in particular, has so far been a target.