Nick Clegg, the deputy director of Facebook, said in an interview published Sunday by the newspaper "Le Gonale de Dimanche" that "2.2 million ads have been canceled" and "120 thousand posts have been withdrawn from Facebook and Instagram." Against the background of the US presidential "attempt to obstruct the participation in the polls."
For months, Facebook has intensified its efforts not to repeat what happened in 2016, when it used its social network in widespread manipulation of voters originating in Russia, during the US presidential elections and the Brexit referendum.
Clegg explained that "there are 35 thousand collaborators participating in securing our platforms and participating in the elections. We will establish partnerships with 70 specialized media outlets, five of them in France, to verify the information."
"We also have artificial intelligence tools. They are allowed to remove fake posts and accounts, before users even report them," he added.
The site stores "all advertisements and information, their funding and source for a period of seven years to ensure transparency."
He added that in 2016, “(the company) did not identify and did not remove any foreign network interfering in the elections. But between March and September of this year, we removed 30 malicious networks around the world, some of which target the United States.”
Facebook removed more than 300 accounts and pages on the Facebook and Instagram platforms in early October. The company found a link between those pages and the accounts and a marketing company called "Raleigh Forge" working for the "Torning Point USA" organization, which seeks to mobilize students´ support for Donald Trump, especially in states that usually see close election results among the presidential candidates.
