Facebook is preparing for the unexpected, imagining the potential fallout scenarios that might befall the U.S. in the wake of the 2020 election and has apparently gone so far as to discuss an advertising “kill switch” in the event that the election is contested. The "kill switch" would halt all advertising in order to prevent the spread of potentially harmful information that could lead to violence or disorder. The company is similarly brainstorming how to respond if Donald Trump or other individuals attempt to use their platform to make erroneous claims about the election results. This builds upon joint efforts with other social media and technology companies to combat election manipulation, especially disinformation, through their services.
Facebook did previously consider a blanket political ads ban during the election season, an action that Twitter took earlier. However, political ads have continued to run as usual. Instead, the social media network has sought to control the use of its platform for malicious manipulation while remaining relatively lax about ordinary sharing of misinformation.
The New York Times reports that Facebook and Twitter are similarly preparing strategies to respond to the different scenarios that might unfold with implications for their operations. The actions are prescient. Donald Trump has made statements that lead many to believe it to be almost inevitable that he will challenge the legitimacy of the results and the process, such as challenging the authenticity of mail ballots during his recent attacks on the postal service. What could really go wrong come November?
This is truly an extraordinary election year and Facebook and other companies are smart to begin proactive preparations for a world in which anything can happen. That said, the contestation of elections has precedent, such as Bush v. Gore (2000) and one wonders what the internal preparation might be like within SCOTUS and other institutions that might be called upon in the event of a serious constitutional crisis. 2016 also presented suspect political operations on Facebook and other networks that are widely believed to have had an impact on the outcome, stemming from foreign and domestic sources. However, there is now a President known for boisterous statements and unconventional actions and no one is quite sure how many will respond in the case of a Trump defeat at the polls. The online social networks as well as ordinary communications networks, such as cell phones, could be used to mobilize unrest to challenge election results—when public health crisis meets political crisis.
Trump could claim the election to be fraudulent. Trump could win the election and others might claim it to have been fraudulent. Alternatively, the loser could continue an American tradition of accepting the results relatively gracefully and ceding the office to his successor, allowing American democracy to carry on as a system built upon solid electoral rules and norms. At this point a drama-free transition and reaction would actually be the most truly surprising outcome in the case of a Trump defeat or a close race in which fraud remains suspected. Facebook is right to prepare for even the most absurd potential scenarios that everyone in the U.S. might all soon live through together.
Source: NYT
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