by Penka Arsova
LaCorte News
Facebook has been preparing to crack down on content on the site in case of election-related unrest.
The story: The company has been working on internal tools used to slow the misinformation in “at-risk” countries that could be activated in the U.S. if election-related violence were to occur, the Wall Street Journal reported. The “emergency measures” would include limiting the spread of viral content and as well as what Facebook considers “inflammatory posts” that would have not raised red flags and the need to suppress that content in usual circumstances.
It could also lower the benchmark for suppressing potentially dangerous posts. Facebook said it would only implement these tools in “dire circumstances,” according to the outlet.
Why it matters? Individuals familiar with the measure said the measures, if implemented, would change the type of content that users see on the platform. In addition to cracking down on misinformation and violent posts, they would also affect popular news and suppress political discussion.