Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 26, 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
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×