Any ad delegitimising US polls will be banned on Facebook

Facebook on Wednesday announced that it will ban ads that tend to delegitimise elections on the platform. The development came ahead of US Presidential elections that are slated for November 3, 2020.

"As we get closer to Election Day we want to provide further clarity on policies we recently announced. Last week we said we’d prohibit ads that make premature declarations of victory. We also won’t allow ads with content that seeks to delegitimize the outcome of an election," tweeted Rob Leathern, Facebook director of product management.

This policy will prohibit any ads that call specific methods of voting, such as voting by mail, as being inherently fraudulent or corrupt, Leathern said. It will also prohibit the use of isolated incidents of voter fraud to delegitimise the result of an election.

Ads that delegitimise an election result, ads that claim voter fraud, ads with premature claims of election victory, ads that are inconsistent with health authority will also be banned.

Facebook will further restrict ads about social issues, election, or politics in the US between October 27 and November 3. Advertisers won’t be able to create and run new ads on Facebook about these issues.

As per a report by BBC, Facebook recently removed Trump-sponsored ads claiming accepting refugees would increase the risk of Covid-19. The ads reportedly showed opponent Joe Biden talking about the US border and asylum seekers.

"We don't allow claims that people's physical safety, health or survival is threatened by people on the basis of their national origin or immigration status," Facebook said.