Facebook is bracing for the possibility that President Donald Trump or his campaign could try to use the social media platform in an attempt to delegitimize the November election results.
The New York Times reported that staffers at the social media giant are already putting together contingency plans in the event Trump tries to use Facebook to dispute the vote by declaring the Postal Service lost mail-in ballots or that other groups interfered with the vote.
Top Facebook officials, including Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, are holding daily meetings to discuss how to minimize the platform from being used to cast doubts on the results.
The Times noted that one plan would include a “kill switch” to shut down political ads after Election Day. The company officials believe the ads, which Facebook does not check for truthfulness, could be used to disseminate misinformation.
The newspaper said YouTube and Twitter have also discussed their own plans if the postelection period becomes problematic.
A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment on its strategy. “We continue to plan for a range of scenarios to make sure we are prepared for the upcoming election,” he said.
Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said, “President Trump will continue to work to ensure the security and integrity of our elections.”
Trump remains concerned over what he considers voter fraud and will wait until after the election to judge whether the results were fair, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Wednesday.
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