Facebook to slap labels on posts if candidates prematurely declare victory

Facebook will add labels to posts from candidates who prematurely declare victory in the November elections, the social media platform announced Wednesday.

If a candidate or party claims to have won before the race is called by major news outlets, users will be shown a notification explaining that no winner has been determined and that votes are still being counted. The same information will be shown at the top of a user’s news feed.

In the event of a candidate or party contesting the results declared by news outlets, a label will be added showing the winner of the race according to the media.

Facebook also said it will stop running social issue, electoral and political ads in the U.S. after polls close on Nov. 3, a precaution that Google rolled out last month to preempt risks of misinformation being pushed through ads. Facebook does not fact-check political ads.

Sarah Schiff, product manager at Facebook, told reporters Wednesday that advertisers should expect the ad freeze to last one week but that the length could change based on how the elections go.

The company last month announced it would block new political and issue ads in the final week leading up to the elections.

The platform will also ban posts calling for people to engage in poll watching that use militarized language or include a suggestion that the goal is to intimidate voters.

The new policies come amid rising fears that President Trump and some of his allies may try to cast doubt on the election results if Trump does not win a second term.

The president has already sought to discredit mail-in voting, claiming without evidence that it leads to widespread voter fraud.

Trump recently urged his supporters to “go into the polls and watch very carefully.”