As Pakistan approaches the general elections, the social media giant Meta released a Press Fact Sheet on Wednesday to address election integrity on its platforms during the political process and campaigns.
An official statement from the firm reads, ‘We adopt a multi-pronged approach to election integrity at Meta: forming an election operations team, eliminating damaging content, improving transparency, and cooperating with local election officials to encourage civic participation.’ In addition, Meta states that it aims to counteract ‘hate speech, voter meddling, and foreign influence’ by giving people a voice and assisting them in participating in civic life. According to the report, an electoral operations team has been activated in Pakistan to cover the voting, similar to what they have done elsewhere in the world.
According to the statement, ‘this team is composed of subject matter experts from a wide range of disciplines, including election integrity, false information, safety, human rights, and cybersecurity, to monitor and respond to emerging hazards in real-time.’ According to Meta, the team consists of Pakistani natives who are fluent in the local language and well-versed in the culture. Additionally, Meta states that while it encourages political discussion and the discussion of issues important to users, any content that violates the company’s standards will not be permitted on the site. The statement mentions, ‘We will remove anything that violates our Community Standards as soon as we become aware of it.’ The type of content that Meta forbids on the platform is also revealed. This includes ‘deepfakes’ or manipulated videos, as well as hate speech, incitement to violence, bullying, and harassment. It also covers forms of misinformation that may directly encourage bodily injury or violent acts.
Furthermore, Meta provides a list of ‘harmful content’ that is prohibited, stating that ‘Our voter interference policies ban a wide range of harmful content categories that could interfere with or discourage voting.’ These categories include:
- Providing false information about the dates, locations, times, or methods associated with voting or voter registration.
- Spreading misinformation about a candidate’s candidacy status.
- Distorting facts related to who is eligible to vote, the criteria for voting, the assurance of vote counting, and the requirements for participating in the voting process.
- Falsifying details about whether a vote will be counted and the necessary information for voting.
- Encouraging activities that aim to disrupt an individual’s ability to engage in an election.
- Promoting the idea that voting participation could lead to legal consequences involving law enforcement.
- Making threats of violence in connection with voting or election outcomes or calling for election monitoring with signs of potential violence.
- Making explicit claims that participating in the voting process will result in individuals contracting COVID-19 or another contagious disease.
- Offering to exchange votes for cash or gifts.
- Showing approval for, offering guidance on, or displaying a definite desire to partake in unlawful actions while participating in the voting procedure.
- Issuing threats against election officials.
- Encouraging individuals to bring weapons to polling locations or sites where votes are counted.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has implemented new measures in Pakistan to enhance the transparency of political advertising. Those who wish to run electoral, political, or social issue ads must now go through an authorization process, which includes providing government-issued photo IDs and including ‘Paid for by’ disclaimers on their advertisements. Meta has made its Ad Library accessible to the public, allowing users to monitor currently active ads and access comprehensive information about political ads for up to seven years. The platform also offers additional transparency by providing insights into Facebook Pages and revealing locations with high reach.
Meta partners with local election officials and Trusted Partners to promote transparency and address digital safety, hate speech, and human rights issues. Additionally, Meta is committed to promoting responsible digital citizenship, particularly among young people in Pakistan, by providing training and digital literacy programs. Moreover, Meta partners with organizations like the Election Commission of Pakistan and Shehri Pakistan to educate the public about voter rights and digital literacy as part of civic education campaigns.
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