Facebook preparing plans in case Trump seeks to delegitimize election: report

Facebook is preparing a contingency plan for if President Trump tries to use the platform to delegitimize the results of this year’s presidential election, The New York Times reported Friday.

Mark Zuckerberg and some senior members of the company have reportedly discussed a “kill switch” to shut off political advertising after election day.

Political advertising is not fact-checked on the platform, and sources told the Times that Facebook employees are worried that exception could be used to spread misinformation.

Facebook did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.

A spokesperson for the platform declined to comment on any specific post-election strategies in a statement to the Times.

“We continue to plan for a range of scenarios to make sure we are prepared for the upcoming election,” they said.

Trump has already begun to question the credibility of the upcoming election, in particular by spreading falsehoods about mail-in voting.

Because of the risks of the coronavirus pandemic, more Americans are expected to rely on mail-in voting that ever before.