Elections 2019: Facebook will publicize the expenses of the political parties of the network

Facing the elections of next October, Facebook Argentina announced a series of initiatives to strengthen the fight against false news as part of the campaign and to make transparent the expenses related to the advertising of political parties.

The process that will be implemented in June, will aim to reduce the dissemination of false news and prevent the platform from being used to "manipulate elections". These are tools that have already been used in other election campaigns around the world, in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Indiawhich, with 950 voters, represents the largest electoral law in the world.

To this end, automated artificial intelligence systems, advertising transparency measures and the work of interdisciplinary teams of political badysts and cybersecurity specialists will be combined.

Facebook: Cambridge Analytica allegedly manipulated elections in Argentina

As stated by the technology giant, in these elections the experience applied to the elections of 2018 in Brazil will be reproduced where these teams worked simultaneously with others located in Silicon Valley and Dublin, Ireland. The work was based on the construction of a "inauthentic behavior policy " this allowed to identify networks of fake profiles of people who launched political disinformation campaigns on the platform.

As for campaign financing In the social network, Facebook has announced the establishment of a "library of opinions", which will allow any user to have access to information about the person who has paid the notices that appear on the screen.

With this tool you can see the warning signs and a series of specific data that will include, among other things, the amounts paid, their origin and the scope of the campaign. These data will be available for a period of seven years.

How the government uses Facebook for its election campaigns

This surveillance system it will only be applicable in opinions declared "political advertising" by those who manage them. For this reason, the ability to monitor them depends on the goodwill of the person who pays for the advertisement. After being identified as campaign material, all information regarding the amount invested and the identity of the advertisers will be stored in the virtual library.

The process starts from one Self-criticism developed after the 2016 US presidential election, where allegedly Russian organizations took advantage of the social network's advertising mechanisms to reach millions of Americans with messages mainly in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Facebook has also signed a cooperation agreement with the National Electoral Chamber (CNE) both to monitor suspected or illegal cases and to disseminate electoral information such as polling stations, access to the register and official candidates.

Facebook scandal: the end of digital innocence

In this sense, the company created by Mark Zuckerberg is also committed to allowing a direct electronic channel to use the CNE in cases deemed advisable to consult specific information on data and campaign funding.

In this context, since the CNE has progressed towards PROFILE that the next Thursday, May 30, will sign a "Digital Ethical Commitment" The 39 national political parties representing the Google, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp platforms, the Latin American Internet Association (ALAI), Adepa and the Digital Media Association were convened. The goal is to sign an agreement to preserve the honesty of the democratic debate and create an environment of self-regulation.

MS / CP