Social media giant insists it’s a ‘force for democracy’
Amidst criticism over its role in influencing Sri Lankan voters in the presidential polls, Facebook said it had adopted a “multi-faceted approach” to show it is a “valuable force for democracy”.
This approach “includes removing fake accounts, preventing the spread of misinformation, disrupting coordinated inauthentic behavior, increasing ads transparency and promoting civic engagement in order to ensure the integrity of the Sri Lankan elections," the social media giant said.
“We believe Facebook can be a valuable force for democracy around the world, encouraging healthy debate, providing voters more direct access to their candidates and giving more people a voice in the political process.
“That’s why we’re focused on ensuring the integrity of elections on
Facebook, and we’ve learned a lot from our work around the world over the past few years,” a Facebook company spokesperson told the Sunday Times.
On removal of questionable content, Facebook said, “We remove all content that violates our Community Standards whenever we become aware of them. We treat every report about content on our platform in the same way around the world. It doesn't matter who or where the report comes from; if the content violates our Community Standards, we will remove it, no matter who posted it, and whether it was reported once or a thousand times.”
It says it follows a clear process everywhere in the world. “When something on Facebook or Instagram is reported to us as violating local law but doesn't go against our Community Standards we may restrict the content's availability in the country where it is alleged to be illegal.”
Facebook added it had worked with the Election Commission as well as political parties and candidates to inform them about its Community Standards, and how to report content that they believe violates both its Community Standards and local laws, including regulations around blackout periods.
Promoting its democratic credentials, Facebook said, “We supported the My First Vote organisation as it launched its campaign to encourage new voters to participate in this year’s presidential elections. On election day, we will remind all eligible Sri Lankan voters to cast their votes and provide more information about polling places.”