Facebook announced it would not fact-check or remove politicians' posts that violate its community standards.

Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs and communications, made the statement in a speech in Washington on Tuesday, as the social media network prepares for the presidential election in November 2020.

"We don't believe ... that it's an appropriate role for us to referee political debates and prevent a politician's speech from reaching its audience and being subject to public debate and scrutiny," Clegg said.

While the social media giant claims it works to discredit false information intended to manipulate public opinion, it would not act as a mediator for appropriate political discourse.

"Would it be acceptable to society at large to have a private company in effect become a self-appointed referee for everything that politicians say?" Clegg asked. "I don’t believe it would be."

Read more: Facebook deletes hundreds of Russian troll pages

Social media under pressure

Clegg's comments come after Twitter's June announcement that it would identify and deemphasize tweets that breached its rules but were posted by politicians and government officials.

Users could flag offending tweets and the network would cover the tweet and require users to first click on a link in order to view it.

Like other social media platforms, Facebook faces increased monitoring of transparency levels and cyber-influence ahead of the US elections.

US authorities have accused Facebook and other social networks of aiding a wide-ranging misinformation campaign largely swayed by Russian operatives aimed at helping elect President Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign.

Moscow has continuously denied the claims.

In response, Facebook has set up various partnerships with media outlets to verify dubious posts and articles, allowing journalist contributions at the bottom of inappropriate content.

In 2018, following the allegations of Russian interference, Facebook hired Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, to clean up its scandal-plagued image.

Read more: Mark Zuckerberg rejects call from US lawmaker to break up Facebook

Facebook hired former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to clean-up its scandal-plagued image

Facebook's new rules

In accordance with its new stance, Facebook will remove posts if a politician's content poses a security risk or has the potential to incite violence.

The network said that all political advertisements must comply with Facebook rules. It also said it will not label politicians' posts as viral and aims to make decisions based on the public interest at large.

However, politicians who post insensitive or graphic content in nature may be kept online.

"…when a politician shares previously debunked content including links, videos and photos, we plan to demote that content, display related information from fact-checkers, and reject its inclusion in advertisements," he said.

Social media platforms and tech giants have come under public pressure in recent years to balance freedom of expression with privacy and the regulation of inappropriate content.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Free speech or illegal content? Whether hate speech, propaganda or activism, governments across the globe have upped efforts to curb content deemed illegal from circulating on social networks. From drawn-out court cases to blanket bans, DW examines how some countries try to stop the circulation of illicit content while others attempt to regulate social media.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Social media law After a public debate in Germany, a new law on social media came into effect in October. The legislation imposes heavy fines on social media companies, such as Facebook, for failing to take down posts containing hate speech. Facebook and other social media companies have complained about the law, saying that harsh rules might lead to unnecessary censorship.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Right to be forgotten In 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that European citizens had the right to request search engines, such as Google and Bing, remove "inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive" search results linked to their name. Although Google has complied with the ruling, it has done so reluctantly, warning that it could make the internet as "free as the world's least free place."

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Blanket ban In May 2017, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Russian social media platforms and web services. The blanket ban affected millions of Ukrainian citizens, many of whom were anxious about their data. The move prompted young Ukrainians to protest on the streets, calling for the government to reinstate access to platforms that included VKontakte (VK), Russia's largest social network.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Safe Harbor In 2015, the European Court of Justice ruled that Safe Harbor, a 15-year-old pact between the US and EU that allowed the transfer of personal data without prior approval, was effectively invalid. Austrian law student Max Schrems launched the legal proceedings against Facebook in response to revelations made by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Edward Snowden.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Regulation In China, the use of social media is highly regulated by the government. Beijing has effectively blocked access to thousands of websites and platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Instead, China offers its citizens access to local social media platforms, such as Weibo and WeChat, which boast hundreds of millions of monthly users.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Twitter bans Russia-linked accounts Many politicians and media outlets blame Russia's influence for Donald Trump's election victory in 2016. Moscow reportedly used Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Instagram to shape public opinion on key issues. In October 2017, Twitter suspended over 2,750 accounts due to alleged Russian propaganda. The platform also banned ads from RT (formerly Russia Today) and the Sputnik news agency.

Fighting for the internet: Social media, governments and tech companies Facebook announces propaganda-linked tool With social media under pressure for allowing alleged Russian meddling, Facebook announced a new project to combat such efforts in November 2017. The upcoming page will give users a chance to check if they "liked" or followed an alleged propaganda account on Facebook or Instagram. Meanwhile, Facebook has come under fire for not protecting user data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Author: Lewis Sanders IV (dj)



mvb/ng (AFP, Reuters)

Every evening, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.