Facebook says it will temporarily suspend political ads after US polls close on Nov. 3 and will remove calls for poll watching that use “militarized” language

The move is intended to limit confusion and misinformation on the platform, the social media company says

Washington Post 2020-10-08 Elizabeth Dwoskin

Context & Ripple Effects

This move completes an arc Facebook began telegraphing in July, when sources reported it was weighing a pre-election political ad ban. By September it had committed to stopping new political ads a week before the vote (the week-out freeze), and today it extends the logic past Election Day itself — suspending ads once polls close on Nov. 3 and policing poll-watching calls framed in militarized terms.

First-order effects

Campaigns and issue advertisers lose their paid reach channel for the critical post-close period, when contested or delayed results would otherwise drive a surge in political ad spend.
Organizers recruiting poll watchers must strip militarized framing from their messaging or have those calls removed from the platform outright.

Second-order effects

With paid political distribution shut off, persuasion and mobilization shift toward organic channels — groups and shares — which is exactly where Facebook's enforcement attention moves next, as seen days later in its 60-day probation regime for political and social groups flagged for election disinformation.

Third-order effects

If 'temporary' election measures keep getting extended and layered — ads frozen, then groups probated — they harden into a standing crisis-governance playbook, making Facebook's content rules effectively contestable policy set unilaterally around civic events rather than fixed terms of service.

The trend: Platform governance is shifting from static content policies to event-triggered emergency modes, with Facebook treating elections as periods requiring suspended normal operations.

Discussion

@mikeisaac Rat King on x
NEWS: Facebook to BAN ALL POLITICAL ADS INDEFINITELY, beginning after the polls close on November 3rd also cracking down on polling place intimidation posts and adding more rules as disinformation and the threat of violence rises approaching Election Day https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@juddlegum Judd Legum on x
With Trump's poll numbers sinking, Facebook appears to be in damage control mode https://www.politico.com/...
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
i'm being a little shit here but idk i'd feel super weird if i built a thing and the only times ppl agree we made positive contributions to society was when we disabled parts of the thing
@ewarren Elizabeth Warren on x
Facebook is again making performative changes to try to avoid blame for misinformation on its platform. The problem isn't the ads themselves. The problem is Facebook's refusal to regulate its ads, change its broken algorithm, or take responsibility for the power it's amassed. htt…
@yashar Yashar Ali on x
“ Over the past few weeks, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, and his lieutenants have watched the presidential race with an increasing sense of alarm.” https://twitter.com/...
@public_citizen @public_citizen on x
wow just in time to have no impact whatsoever https://twitter.com/...
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
what you're seeing is a constant internal push and pull at FB trying to get the best of both worlds — only KIND OF killing off ads — with what Zuckerberg calls “Giving users a voice with ads,” while also trying not to warp the outcome of the election with advertising gone awry
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
All for thoughtfulness, but Facebook suspending political ads was the right move years ago, not after this year's election. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@krishgm Krishnan Guru-Murthy on x
After the polls close : as in after the targeting and disinformation and disengagement campaigns and lies have done their work https://twitter.com/...
@jonnysun @jonnysun on x
this is great! it's just like how i plan on eating healthier after i die https://twitter.com/...
@lukeoneil47 Luke on x
Getting clean as soon as I finish this bag unless you've got some leftover too https://twitter.com/...
@andrewfeinberg Andrew Feinberg on x
I'll repeat the same question I asked earlier today: What are the odds that Facebook's recent moves on QAnon/misinformation are driven by recent polling? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@rcalo Ryan Calo on x
Facebook to close barn door after horse escapes. News yesterday at 11. https://twitter.com/...
@rezaaslan Reza Aslan on x
Oh look. Facebook will ban political ads. After the polls close. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@williamlegate William LeGate on x
Twitter needs to do the same!! @Jack https://twitter.com/...
@yashar @yashar on x
Thread by Biden campaign digital director @Rob_Flaherty He's pushing back on Facebook's new policy on political ads. Read more from @MikeIsaac here: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@alexkotch Alex Kotch on x
Ok cool so misleading political ads will be allowed through Election Day, great reform guys https://twitter.com/...
@dianeravitch Diane Ravitch on x
Facebook to temporarily halt all political ads in U.S. after polls close Nov. 3, broadening earlier restrictions. WHAT? WHAT ABOUT STOP THE MISINFORMATION AND LIES NOW? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@davidmackau David Mack on x
FB: we are terrible for the election so we will try to fix that...after the election https://twitter.com/...
@mosseri Adam Mosseri on x
As we enter the final weeks leading up to the US election, we're working to make sure you get the most relevant information on Instagram. The new measures we're taking include the following. https://about.fb.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
I solemnly swear to stop snowboarding after June 1st. https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
This, but starting now and ending never. https://twitter.com/...
@amywilson Amy Wilson on x
Yeah yeah I know but also this is really shitty for small, local candidates. https://twitter.com/...
@dylanmatt Dylan Matthews on x
Reminds me of @kjhealy's point that the meaning of “performative” has completely flipped, from “made real through performance” to “fake and therefore bad” https://twitter.com/...
@sruhle Stephanie Ruhle on x
Saved by COVID- b/c of “in person meeting restrictions. No one @Facebook had to look anyone in the eye or keep a straight face while making this announcement. https://twitter.com/...
@marwilliamson Marianne Williamson on x
What difference does it make since it doesn't happen until after the election? https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
Ya think, Zuckerberg?? The rest of us have been watching @Facebook with an increasing sense of alarm since the LAST election! https://twitter.com/...
@murphymiranda Miranda Murphy on x
This move by Facebook is an admission that its platform is abused for political purposes, so why not do it now? https://twitter.com/...
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
What this is: An attempt by Facebook to prevent paid campaigns in which politicians or advocacy groups sow discord after what may be a long, drawn-out and contentious vote-counting process.
@just_jenna Jenna Lowenstein on x
lol tfw you're offline for an hour and come back to a world where you can't talk to voters in runoffs or recounts and also can't raise any* money to pay for runoffs or recounts https://twitter.com/...
@dellcam Dell Cameron on x
with ads disabled, the Trump campaign will only be able to circulate election disinformation to the 30 million users who follow his page. https://twitter.com/...
@blackamazon @blackamazon on x
Facebook can't spin this as one sided so it's hoping blanket bans will stop certain questions and discourage the press from moving beyond the usual subjects https://twitter.com/...
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
Pretty wild: We went from pretty much having zero online political ad rules 4 years ago to now having most of the major tech platforms banning ads either always or at least for the few days after polls close. https://www.axios.com/...
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
🚨🚨 NEW: @Facebook says it will block political ads after the polls close on Election Day — Says ban likely last week, maybe more — Comes 2 weeks after Google announced similar rule — Also banning posts that implicitly push “poll watching” Story on @axios https://www.axios.com/...
@vanitaguptacr Vanita Gupta on x
Given unprecedented attacks on legitimate voting methods designed to delegitimize the election, these are important steps from @Facebook to combat disinformation and premature calling of results. @civilrightsorg will continue to press FB & other platforms to protect our election.…
@guyro Guy Rosen on x
With just under 4 weeks to election day, today we shared an update on our preparedness efforts both for this final stretch and for after election day. Read the details here: https://about.fb.com/... 1/7
@rob_flaherty Rob Flaherty on x
FACEBOOK! ADS! ARE! NOT! THE! PROBLEM!
@jeffcannata Jeff Cannata on x
This is why I'll also be banning all knives from my house the very second after I die from a thousand cuts. https://twitter.com/...
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
btwn the QAnon ban and political ad ban...it really is hard to shake the notion that with each little piece of the platform Facebook takes off line, things get a little less potentially unstable.
@bjrich_ @bjrich_ on x
I cannot express how damaging this will be to campaigns trying to get voters to cure ballots — so their voters are counted — and to RUNOFF races still running campaigns. 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤦🏻‍♂ ️ https://twitter.com/...

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