If you’ve been distracted these last few months from the election cycle, we wouldn’t blame you. Of course, we’ve all had our minds on important issues like COVID19, BLM, and all the other things 2020 has thrown our way so far. But, the political election cycle will roll on and just last week, Facebook has finally come out with a bandaid to try to save face with their new Voting Information Center and updated political ad options for users.
Facebook’s new Voting Information Center will provide accurate info about voting and provide tools to help register and make voter voices heard during the upcoming elections. This new user experience will be live and prominent on both Facebook and Instagram soon.
The two biggest updates are the new tools Facebook launched this past week, the ability to turn off political ads on the user experience side, and additional transparency on who is sponsoring political, social issues and electoral ads. Users will now have the option to control the amount of political advertising they see on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook is then taking one step further and including more transparency into the spending for U.S. House, Senate and Presidential campaigns. This is an effort to allow users to understand how much is being spent and who is doing the spending on issues affecting the ballots this year.
The question we’re asking, is this enough? Many major brands like Ben & Jerry’s, The North Face, and Patagonia are pulling their ad spend on Facebook and Instagram in the #StopHateForProfit movement. People and brands alike are demanding more action to be taken with clear steps to stop the spread and amplification of racism and hate on these platforms.
While Facebook has started taking on fake news and hate speech being shared on its platform, there is still much more to be done across the network. Be sure before you share that fantastic headline on your page that it is not misleading or from an untrustworthy outlet. No matter which way you vote in 2020, take advantage of the information systems out there and educate yourself before you hit the polls!