Is Facebook Really Ready for Election Day 2020?

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – Facebook insists that it has learned lessons from the 2016 US presidential election and is better prepared for Election Day 2020.

The Big Tech company has repeatedly reassured users and the public that ever since Russian agents and other opportunities abused its platform to manipulate the previous election, it has toughened up and is no longer a conduit for misinformation, voter suppression and election disruption.

But it has been a long and halting journey for the social network.

Although Facebook has revised its rules and tightened its safeguards, its own employees as well as critical outsiders say the company’s efforts remain wholly insufficient to the task.

This is despite having spent billions on the project that seeks to ward off malicious attempts such as misinformation.

Read also: Facebook Bans QAnon Accounts Across All Platforms to Curb Misinformation

As for why, they point to Facebook’s persistent unwillingness to act decisively over much of that time raising plenty of questions over its readiness this Election Day.

“Am I concerned about the election? I’m terrified,” said Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and an early Facebook investor turned vocal critic.

“At the company's current scale, it’s a clear and present danger to democracy and national security.”

The company's rhetoric has certainly gotten an update.