Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

How social media is preparing for US election chaos

How social media is preparing for US election chaos

There aren't many in the US who are sure there'll be an election result on the night.

Due to unprecedented numbers of postal votes, there could be days - possibly weeks - between the end of voting and the declared result.

And in that period of uncertainty there are fears of civil unrest.

Both sides could claim victory, and misinformation about the result could be rife.

The worry is that anger, fake news and hate speech on social media could inflame tensions.

So what is Big Tech planning to do about it?

The nuclear option would be to close down their apps for a period of time.

This is what we know social media companies intend to do to prevent that from happening.



Twitter says after election day candidates won't be permitted to claim they've won the election before a declared result.

Twitter also says candidates can't tweet or retweet content that encourages interference with the election process.

What will it do if that happens? Well, Twitter says it will direct people to resources with accurate, up-to-date information about the election status.

That sounds like Twitter won't take down tweets or even necessarily suppress them. But the tweets will be labelled.

Crucially Twitter gives itself room to manoeuvre if things really kick off - they haven't ruled out going further.



Last month, Nick Clegg told the FT's Hannah Murphy there were some "break-glass options available to us" in extreme scenarios.

What are those options? Well Facebook won't say.

But the Wall Street Journal has reported that some of these plans include altering news feed algorithms to suppress viral posts that propagate violence or fake news.

They can also deactivate certain hashtags related to misinformation around the election result.

And they will lower the bar for what they remove.

These would be techniques that Facebook has used in other parts of the world like Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

These are on top of what Facebook is already doing - for example labelling misinformation on voting.

They have also teamed up with Reuters to supply accurate election results on the night and in the days after the election.



Reddit appears to go much further that Facebook or Twitter.

It says information that seeks to mislead or misrepresent the election results is not allowed and would be removed from the site.

Reddit also has an entire page committed to what happens after the election

The site will host a series of "Ask Me Anything" events from the day after the election.

Voting experts will be on hand to answer questions about the vote, and what people can expect in the coming days.



Google is working with the Associated Press (AP)— to provide authoritative election results.

So in the days after the election if you searched for "Who won the election?" Google search would direct you to AP's updated results.

Google has also said it will pause ads referring to the 2020 election, the candidates or its outcome after election day.

It says it's done this to limit the potential for ads to increase confusion post-election.

YouTube says it will not allow "misleading claims about voting or content that encourages interference in the democratic process".

It also says it will remove content falsely claiming that mail-in ballots have been manipulated to change the results of an election.

That too goes further than Twitter and Facebook.

It also says it will enforce pre-existing rules on content that promotes violence.



Snapchat is slightly different to other social media companies here.

It doesn't have a newsfeed as such and the nature of the platform makes it harder for misinformation to go viral.

Even so, Snapchat says it is reminding its "stars" whose content appears on its "Discover" section not to amplify false information about the election, even unintentionally.

The company has also said it has an internal task-force to "vigorously protect our platform from being misused in any way".



TikTok says it is working with independent fact checkers during the election period.

It says it will remove misinformation related to the 2020 election - including the vote itself.

It is also adding an election misinformation option to in-app reporting so that users can flag content.

TikTok said: "In these momentous times, we're intent on supporting our community as we work to maintain the integrity of our platform."

In short, all these social media companies are treating the election, and its aftermath, very seriously.

We may know in a few days whether these measures are enough.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×