
Facebook is preparing for the results of the US presidential election.
Angela Lang/CNET
Facebook and its photo service, Instagram, said they plan to show users a message at the top of their feeds, and new labels, when a US presidential winner has been projected.
The notifications and labels will include a link to Facebook’s voting information center and cite who projected the winner. Facebook and Instagram will add labels that state the projected winner below posts from candidates President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. The notification that’ll appear at the top of a user’s News Feed will also include a timestamp.
Facebook said in an e-mail that it’s relying on a majority opinion from Reuters and major media outlets, including ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, NBC News, CNN and the Associated Press, to determine when a presidential winner is projected.
Facebook and Instagram will show you this notification when a presidential winner has been projected.
With Biden leading in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, the former vice president is inching closer to the 270 Electoral College votes he needs for victory, according to the Associated Press.
Social media sites have been battling an onslaught of election misinformation this week, including premature claims of victory and unsubstantiated accusations of voter fraud from Trump.
On Thursday, Facebook shut down a group called Stop the Steal with more than 364,000 members that was pushing baseless claims that the Democrats were trying to steal the election. Facebook removed the group because some of the members were calling for violence and organizing real-world events such as rallies. The group, created by the conservative organization Women for America First, accused Facebook of political bias but the social network has repeatedly denied such allegations.
Facebook is taking more steps to combat misinformation. The company is demoting content that contains misinformation and limiting the distribution of live election videos. And when users share a post that’s been labeled, Facebook will encourage them to visit the social network’s voting information center.