Zuckerberg: Facebook no longer 'on our back foot' on protecting elections

By Nancy Scola

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg insisted to reporters Monday that the company is taking serious steps to combat interference in elections, reeling off a mix of both old and new actions — and acting once again as the public face of the social network in the intense debate over its role in U.S. democracy.

Since the 2016 presidential contest, Zuckerberg argued on a press call, "We've gone from being on our back foot to now proactively going after some of the biggest threats that are out there." Added the CEO, "We've built systems to fight interference that we believe are more advanced than what any other company is doing — and most governments."

Zuckerberg, who is worth nearly $70 billion, used the 45-minute call to detail steps the company is taking on that front. They include clearly labeling content from state-sponsored media outlets on Facebook as well as the country of origin of individual pages. The site will also more prominently label content that third-party fact-checkers deem false, Zuckerberg said.

That last move comes despite rising controversy over Facebook's policy against fact-checking political ads. That and other blowups have spurred Zuckerberg to take a more active role in defending his company as federal and state officials and presidential candidates cast a probing eye on Facebook's market power. He gave a speech at Georgetown University last week seeking to reiterate and contextualize Facebook's commitment to free speech, and he's next due back in Washington on Wednesday for a hearing on Libra, the company's planned digital currency.

Zuckerberg also said on Monday’s call that Facebook will be launching both a presidential spending tracker to keep tabs on the advertising spends of 2020 White House hopefuls and a project called Facebook Protect to offer enhanced account security for politicians, candidates and political and campaign staffers.

Zuckerberg said he was "confident that we are more prepared now" than in 2016 but acknowledged bad actors are still using the platform to nefarious ends.

The company also detailed the takedown Monday of four clusters of bad actors that were using Facebook under concealed identity to try and spread political messages. Three originated in Iran, while one was a Russia-based effort tied to the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-linked "troll farm" that provided the vehicle for Russia's efforts to use social media to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated when Zuckerberg is due back in Washington for a hearing on Libra. It is Wednesday.