Politico: “Facebook has vowed to reject political ads that claim victory for a candidate in the 2020 election before the results are finalized, a scenario that election watchers fear is likely as an increased number of people vote by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic. ‘Facebook will be rejecting political ads that claim victory before the results of the 2020 election have been declared,’ company spokesperson Andy Stone tweeted Wednesday. The new policy marks a departure for Facebook. The social media behemoth has repeatedly declined to fact check political ads in the past, much to the chagrin of Democrats and progressive groups who accuse the network of allowing misleading messages to spread as long as it gets paid for them.”

“Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines earlier this month when he banned new political ads from being distributed on the platform during the week before Election Day. The rationale, he asserted, was that all political ads should be published in advance so that candidates have time to respond to accusations. The ads could resume immediately after Election Day, Facebook said. But there’s no guarantee a winner will be certain on Election night. As Zuckerberg acknowledged, ‘It’s important that we prepare for this possibility in advance and understand that there could be a period of intense claims and counter-claims as the final results are counted.'”