Facebook to block new political ads before US election

WASHINGTON

Facebook said Thursday it would not accept new political ads in the week before the US presidential election.

The move announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to "help secure the integrity of the US elections by encouraging voting, connecting people to authoritative information, and reducing the risks of post-election confusion," according to the company.

It said it would remove posts that claim people will get COVID-19 if they take part in voting.

"We’ll attach a link to authoritative information about the coronavirus to posts that might use COVID-19 to discourage voting," the company said in a statement.

It will also add labels to posts directing people to official results, if any candidate or campaign tries to declare victory before final results are released.

The Nov. 3 election "is not going to be business as usual," Zuckerberg said. "We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest.”