Facebook considers forming an election commission

Facebook has approached academics and policy experts about forming a commission to advise it on issues relating to global elections, the New York Times reports.

The commission could potentially decide on the viability of political ads and the best way to handle misinformation around elections, according to five people with knowledge of the matter.

They added that Facebook is expected to announce the commission this fall in preparation for the 2022 US midterm elections, although nothing is confirmed yet.

Facebook declined the Times’ request for comment.

Facebook and other social media platforms have received much criticism over their handling of political advertising. Two of the five people who spoke to the Times said that outsourcing election matters could help Facebook avoid such criticism in addition to preventing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg from being seen as the sole decision-maker on political content.

Starting Aug. 25, Facebook introduced tools and policies that aim to provide increased transparency and controls on electoral and political ads in Iraq ahead of parliamentary elections on Oct. 10.

Speaking to Arab News in a separate interview, Tara Fischbach, Facebook’s public policy manager for the Levant, said the move was part of the company’s “ongoing commitment to raise the bar for transparency and accountability on our platform, and to help prevent foreign interference in elections.”

The commission, if formed, would not be the first time Facebook has set up external groups to help it make major decisions. In 2018, the company created the Oversight Board, a panel that includes former politicians, academics and policy experts to rule on whether Facebook is right to remove certain content from its platform. In May, the Oversight Board upheld Facebook’s suspension of former US President Donald Trump, but said the company was wrong to make the ban indefinite.