Currently Social Media like Facebook are being manipulated and used for various advertisements, as millions of people are using these networks. This came into limelight after the case of Cambridge Analytica, that used Facebook for major data breach. With Lok Sabha election round the corner in 2019, it is important for the social media to bring strong rules for advertising to prevent possible manipulations.
Why Social Media Marketing is Used During Election
In times of political elections, the political parties support their cause through the active manipulation of social media. This can be done by altering the number of followers or users, that can affect a viewer’s view about the candidate’s popularity.
It was noted previously that the number of followers for a presidential candidate in the United States had risen by over 110 thousand within one single day, and the analysis revealed that most of these followers are unlikely to be real people
Secondly, the political parties searched for the personal information, and targeted the individual voters with personalised political advertisements.
Steps Taken By Facebook
Facebook is establishing a task force comprising of a group of specialists to work together with political parties. The team will include the security specialists, content specialists etc., who will have to understand and analyze all the possible forms of election-related issues in India.
Facebook had come under strict scrutiny of the policy makers in the US after the company faced allegations of Russia-linked accounts that used the social media to spread wrong messages during the 2016 presidential election surfaced. Zuckerberg had already said that Facebook will ensure that the company’s platform is not misused for influencing elections in India and other countries.
Facebook makes the use of a combination of technology, that includes Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and reports from its community who is violating the content on the platform.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s team has planned to place electoral ads in a searchable online library, which will start from the next month. For the Indian context, the platform will comprise of the contact information for the ad buyers or their official regulatory certificates. For individuals buying political ads, Facebook will ensure that their listed name matches the government-issued documents.
The Indian archive is planned to comprise of the contact information for the ad buyers or their official regulatory certificates. For individuals who will buy political ads, Facebook would ensure that their listed name matches government-issued documents.
Overall, Facebook would extend some of its political advertising rules and tools for curbing election interference to India, Nigeria, Ukraine and the European Union before significant votes in the next few months.
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