What if Donald Trump, in case of defeat, tries to pretend on social networks that he has won? This is one of the many problematic scenarios that Facebook and Twitter, among others, are actively preparing, just over months away from the presidential election.
According to the New York Times , Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is holding daily meetings with other officials about the risks that his platforms could be used to challenge the results. Because in recent weeks, the US president has regularly questioned the reliability of postal voting, essential in this period of pandemic.
Breaking News: Facebook is laying out contingency plans in case President Trump attempts to delegitimize election results, including a political ad “kill switch” https://t.co/ZvXHsjkSyh
- The New York Times (@nytimes) August 21, 2020"A series of emergency exercises and simulations"
“We've already done a series of emergency drills and simulations to imagine possible situations and make sure we're prepared to deal with them,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's director of cybersecurity regulations, said recently.
Twitter, for its part, is considering the possibility that the election period will last well beyond November 3, until the inauguration of the president-elect in January. "We are learning from all recent polls around the world to improve our work on election integrity," Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, one of the network's vice-presidents, said on Friday.
Trump's posts already pinned by platforms
Sign of the exceptional stake of these preparations, the rival platforms collaborate actively to avoid reproducing the scandals of 2016. The previous presidential election had been marked by disguised influence campaigns, mainly orchestrated from Russia. In order to thwart this kind of manipulation, players in the technology sector regularly meet with the US Federal Police (FBI) and other authorities.
But the situation could be complicated if ever the president himself were to cause confusion. The platforms have indicated that they do not intend to remain "passive". Facebook and Twitter have already cracked down, pinning information notes on Donald Trump's posts on postal voting, deemed misleading and dangerous for the smooth running of the poll. Unlike Twitter, Facebook has so far allowed political ads, but could ban them after the election if ever if the group deemed it necessary to fight disinformation, the New York Times believes .
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