Social Media Election Policy Tracker

Meta is terminating its third-party fact-checking program in favor of a new Community Notes program, which allows users to contribute context to posts. This shift also includes reducing restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender identity and modifying enforcement practices to rely less on automated systems and more on user reports for less severe violations. Additionally, Meta plans to reintroduce and personalize the display of political content on its platforms rather than limit it.

After concerted effort by the U.S. House of Representatives to ban the app, President Biden signing a bill that would ban TikTok usage nationwide unless the parent company sells the app to a United States company, and a failed appeal, TikTok is set to be banned in January 2025.

Efforts to ban the app hinge on concerns over data privacy and China's influence over messages in the United States. 

TikTok asked the Supreme Court in December 2024 to step in to temporarily block the ban. The Supreme Court agreed to review the case. 

According to an Axios article in early November, the ban "was initially supposed to expire at 11:59 p.m. PT on Election Day, but Meta is extending the ban [for a few more days] to prevent any confusion or misinformation from spreading while votes are still likely being counted."

Meta then rolled back that extension until only November 7th. 

Musk-funded PAC created the "Election Integrity Community" on X, a crowdsourced place to "share potential incidents of voter fraud or irregularities you see while voting in the 2024 election." News reports claim widespread false claims proliferated on the site, dying down after Trump decidedly won the election. 

Google announces election policies including highlighting voter information on the homepage, adding panels with candidate details, and displaying real-time election results. YouTube will also feature authoritative news streams on Election Day.

YouTube reiterates previous policies of removing content that misleads voters, incites violence, or promotes harmful conspiracies. Generative AI content must be labeled, especially if related to elections, and AI-generated content violating guidelines may be removed. YouTube will also work with Google’s Threat Analysis Group to combat foreign interference.

Google spokesperson Michael Aciman said in a statement that “we will temporarily pause ads related to U.S. elections after the last polls close on November 5.” Google's reasoning was "to limit the potential for confusion, given the likelihood that votes will continue to be counted after Election Day.” Google took a similar approach in 2020, telling advertisers when the ban was lifted a few weeks later. Adds banned include those "referencing candidates, ballot measures, election processes, and outcomes."

The New York Times, citing Meta employees, reports substantial shifts in the company's election policies. These include CEO Mark Zuckerberg no longer personally meeting with election security leaders, reducing the workforce dedicated to election security, and dissolving the election integrity team. Additionally, Zuckerberg "has also decided not to have a 'war room,' which Meta previously used to prepare for elections. Instead, Meta said it will be running an election operations center closer to the November vote."

Meta announced a ban on RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, citing their involvement in covert influence operations using deceptive tactics, escalating Meta's response to Russian State media following prior measures that included blocking ads and limiting the visibility of their posts.

Grock, Twitter's AI election chatbot, spread misinformation by saying that new candidates could not be added to the ballots after Biden announced withdrawing from the election.

YouTube terminated Tenet Media’s channel and four additional channels operated by its owner, Lauren Chen. This action followed an indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice, which charged two employees of Russian state media network RT with money-laundering. The indictment alleged that the employees used fake personas and shell companies to pay $10 million to a Tennessee company to produce divisive online content aimed at influencing the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

TikTok expanded its U.S. Election Center with new voting FAQs from authoritative sources, real-time election results in partnership with the Associated Press, and ballot information linked to reliable third-party sources. TikTok also launched media literacy videos, including Spanish content from Factchequeado, to help users spot misinformation.

To enhance election integrity, TikTok has formed a U.S. Elections Integrity Advisory Group and requires two-step verification for government and political accounts. Additionally, TikTok has onboarded 27 organizations to its Community Partners program to report violative content.

On Instagram, Washington Post reports find Meta reducing political content, including that related to elections and voting.

In a statement in September 2024, Meta said that due to feedback "we have spent the last few years refining our approach on Facebook to reduce the amount of political content – including from politicians’ accounts – you see in Feed, Reels, Watch, Groups You Should Join, and Pages You May Like."

Google introduced new measures for its AI products ahead of the U.S. presidential election. AI-generated summaries for YouTube Live Chat, Gemini apps, and image generation tools will not respond to election-related queries. Instead, users will be directed to Google Search for reliable, up-to-date election information.

YouTube will feature information panels with details about federal election candidates, and closer to Election Day, reminders on voting will appear on the homepage. Google is also expanding its SynthID watermarking technology to cover more AI-generated content and requiring automated disclosures for synthetic content in YouTube election ads.

The New York Times analyzed the ways that political figures are using TikTok influencers to spread political messages despite the platform banning political advertising. 

In letter to congress, Zuckerberg says Meta "no longer temporarily demotes [stories] in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers."

In quarterly Adversarial Threat Report Meta says that Russia is a top threat in covert operations regarding election influence in the United States. Meta found six covert influence operations in Q2 originating in Russia and reports shutting them down before they gained traction.  

CrowdTangle, a public insights tool for exploring social media content, was shut down permanently. In its place, Meta offers the Meta Content Library and Content Library API. 

In November 2023 Meta announced a reprise of their political ad block policy a week before elections. In August 2024 Meta announces the specific dates and times of ads blocked: "we will block new social issue, electoral, and political ads during the final week leading up to Election Day in the US (12:01 AM PT on October 29, 2024 through 11:59 PM PT on November 5, 2024). While new ads will not be able to run during this restriction period, ads that have run prior to the restriction period and served at least one impression will be allowed to continue running during this time with limited editing capabilities." 

Meta acknowledged two issues related to the handling of political content on the platform. A fact-check label was incorrectly applied to a real image of former President Trump following an attempted assassination due to similarities with a doctored version. Additionally, Meta AI initially failed to respond correctly to questions about the event, a limitation in how AI chatbots handle rapidly developing news. Meta has since updated the responses and corrected the fact-check label error.

Elon Musk, owner of X and its most-followed user, endorsed Donald Trump for president in a post. He later hosted a livestreamed conversation with Trump on the platform.

Historically, major platforms and their owners have not typically endorsed political candidates.

Meta announced the removal of restrictions on former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, allowing him to use the platforms without the threat of suspension for violating terms of service, including content that could delegitimize the upcoming election. These restrictions were initially put in place after the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, where Trump was indefinitely suspended for posts that risked inciting violence. Meta reinstated his accounts in 2023 with some limitations, which are now no longer applicable. 

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed that nearly 1,000 AI-enhanced Russian bots, linked to Russia’s state-controlled news network, Russia Today, and backed by Russia's Federal Security Service, impersonated Americans and posted misleading content to manipulate public opinion. X suspended the accounts. 

TikTok expanded its policies for state-affiliated media, now labeling content from such accounts and preventing their recommendation if they attempt to reach audiences outside their home country on global affairs. These accounts are also restricted from advertising outside their home country. Additionally, TikTok will share regular updates on covert influence operations, having disrupted 15 such operations, including some related to elections, from January to April 2024.

Parler's published community guidelines emphasize free expression while promoting counter speech over censorship. Parler remains neutral in managing viewpoints, providing tools like mute and block for user's themselves to tailor content exposure. 

Prohibited content includes intellectual property theft; spam and unsolicited ads’ pornography and explicit content; fraud; threats and incitement; doxing and criminal solicitation; terrorism and hate groups; excessive gore. 

The Oversight Board emphasizes the critical role of social media in shaping elections, with 80 countries holding elections in 2024. While platforms can facilitate transparent elections, they are also tools for spreading disinformation and inciting violence. The Board offers nine key lessons for improving election integrity, such as enhancing enforcement, addressing political speech that incites violence, setting standards for AI-generated content, and increasing transparency. The recommendations call on companies like Meta to protect civic spaces and political expression while upholding human rights.

Meta expanded its policy on manipulated media across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Initially, the policy targeted only AI-generated videos that falsely portrayed people saying things they didn’t. The update now covers AI-generated content like audio and photos, based on recommendations from Meta’s Oversight Board. The platform will label manipulated AI content with context instead of removing it, unless it violates other policies such as voter interference or harassment. Labels such as "Made with AI" or more prominent labels will help users assess the content. Independent fact-checkers will continue reviewing AI-generated content marked as false or altered.

In September 2024 the company announced the AI info labels only appear on AI generated content rather than AI modified content. 

When Threads was launched, fact-checkers could not directly fact-check on the platform. This was later updated. As of April 2, 2024: "Our fact-checking program is now live on Threads. Fact-checking partners now have the ability to review and rate misinformation on Threads directly."

In written disclosures to the Senate Judiciary Committee, X reported that it had 3,317 Trust and Safety employees and contractors in May 2022. By May 2023, this number had decreased to 2,849, reflecting a reduction in staffing over the course of a year.

Parler is back on Apple's App Store after close to a year offline. New owners tell Wired that threats of physical harm will not be allowed. 

Meta announced that CrowdTangle, a data transparency tool for external researchers, will no longer be available after August 14, 2024. In their announcement, Meta stated that new research tools, Meta Content Library and Content Library API, will be available instead. 

Meta adjusted its recommendation system to no longer suggest political content on Instagram and Threads. Users can still see political content from accounts they actively follow. Critics raised concerns about the criteria used to define "political" content, arguing that this change limits a vital avenue for voter education. According to Meta's blog post, political content is defined as content "potentially related to things like laws, elections, or social topics."

Meta announced that Facebook, Instagram, and Threads will use common technical standards to identify and label AI-generated photos and videos. This initiative complements a previous decision to label content generated with Meta's AI tools. The labels will include visible markers on the images, as well as invisible watermarks and metadata embedded within the image files. Meta acknowledges that it is currently not possible to identify all AI-generated content, and there are methods to remove invisible markers.

Facebook tells CNBC that it has been hosting virtual training sessions for state and local officials prior to the 2024 presidential election. These training sessions cover anything from creating ads, to fostering a safe community online, to using Facebook to reach a broader community. Some state and local officials have said they didn't know about this resource and have a hard time getting in direct touch with Meta. 

TikTok released its initial policies for the 2024 elections, which primarily reiterate existing strategies: spreading trustworthy information through Election Centers, partnering with external fact-checkers, and promoting media literacy. Regarding generative AI, TikTok introduced a labeling requirement for "realistic" AI-generated content stating that it will continue developing AI detection policies to ensure responsible use.

Announced in November 2023, but going into effect in January 2024, Meta updated its policy to require AI disclosures in Political Ads. Further, from The New York Times, "Meta added that it would bar advertisers from using its own A.I.-assisted software to create political or social issue ads, as well as ads related to housing, employment, credit, health, pharmaceuticals or financial services."

After being offline since April 2023, Parler's CEO, Ryan Rhodes, says to expect a relaunch early 2024, ahead of the U.S. presidential election.  

Google's 2024 election plan emphasizes the use of AI both as an enforcement tool and as a potential threat in spreading misinformation. The plan includes a requirement for election advertisers to "prominently disclose when their ads include realistic synthetic content" and introduces a new requirement for creators to disclose when they have created realistic altered or synthetic content. Election-related synthetic content will also be labeled. Additionally, Google will "restrict the types of election-related queries for which Bard and the Search Generative Experience (SGE)* will return responses." Beyond AI initiatives, Google continues its voter education efforts and maintains the identity verification process for advertisers. The YouTube announcement reiterates existing disallowed content policies concerning elections, with no changes, and highlights the preferencing of information labels at the top of search results.

*Now known as "AI Overviews"

Meta's Threads follow Instagram's community guidelines but not Meta's regular fact-checking programs. In an update on December 12, Meta explained, "Currently, when a fact-checker rates a piece of content as false on Facebook or Instagram, we extend that fact-check rating to near-identical content on Threads, but fact-checkers cannot rate Threads content on its own. "

In April 2024, Meta launched a fact checking program on Threads.

Meta updates its community standards for voter and census interference: 1) The misrepresentation category now includes "Voter/Census Interference;" 2) The Coordinating harm category continues to include "Voter/Census Fraud."

They also include new policies under "Additional Info/Context Needed to Enforce:" 1) Coordinated Interference is content calling for interference in census or election participation; 2) Law Enforcement Consequences are claims that census or voting participation will lead to arrest, deportation, or imprisonment; and 3) Intimidation at Voting Sites are defined as statements advocating monitoring voters or officials with the intent to intimidate, using militaristic language or expressing control.

Meta released its public-facing plan for the 2024 elections. Meta emphasized continuity with its approach in previous elections of blocking new political ads in the week before the election, though ads previously running can continue. 

Advertisers "will have to disclose when they use AI or other digital techniques to create or alter political or social issues" in advertisements. 

Meta will label state-controlled media. 

Google's updated policy says that political ads containing synthetic content must include a disclosure. However, ads with synthetic alterations that do not significantly affect the ad's claims, such as image resizing, cropping, color corrections, defect removal (e.g., “red eye” removal), or minor background edits, are exempt from this requirement.

Google introduced new generative AI tools for customizing ad images. As part of the rollout, the company implemented a list of political keywords that are blocked from being used as prompts to create or modify ads.

After previously promising to expand the Election Integrity team, X, under Elon Musk's leadership, cuts half of the team, including its leaders.

Gab allows users to mute, block, or report content based on personal preferences, while maintaining a free-speech stance. Users can report content that violates Gab’s Terms of Service, including illegal posts, threats, porn, doxxing, and site abuse. Group admins moderate their own channels and can review posts from new accounts.

TikTok announced a new tool to help creators label their AI-generated content. Additionally, the platform will begin testing methods to automatically label AI-generated content.

X revised its Civic Integrity Policy to include measures for labeling or removing false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election or other civic processes. Tweets that violate these policies will have "reduced visibility" (de-amplified) and will be labeled, but not removed entirely.

Meta introduced new controls that allow users to opt out of its fact-checking program. This change permits debunked posts to appear in participants' news feeds with only a warning label, rather than being suppressed or removed.

X announces a new policy allowing political advertising, emphasizing freedom of expression and forthcoming updates to its Civil Integrity Policy. A global advertising transparency center will be created to review political posts. U.S. policies prohibit false or misleading election content, and limit ads to U.S. persons/entities with pre-approval. 

Collaborative research evaluating the impact of Facebook and Instagram on political attitudes and behaviors during the 2020 U.S. election cycle were published in scientific journals Science and Nature. The findings show minimal evidence that the platforms' key features cause harmful polarization or significantly affect political outcomes. However, some external researchers noted that the short data collection period and its timing near the election may limit the findings' broader relevance. More studies are expected to be released in the future. 

Musk rebrands Twitter by removing the bird logo and changing the official name to X.com

Meta announced that its Threads platform will operate on the fediverse, a collection of decentralized social media platforms that use open standards and protocols. This structure allows users to interact and communicate across multiple platforms, reducing reliance on centralized data silos, giving users the ability to host their data on their own servers.

Meta has launched Threads. Threads is positioned as a competitor to other text-based social media platforms, offering features that cater to public discussions and private conversations.

Yoel Roth, Twitter's former Head of Trust and Safety, stated that the platform's Trust and Safety program has become "nonexistent" under Elon Musk's leadership. He expressed concerns about the significant reduction in staff and resources dedicated to maintaining safety and enforcing policies on the platform. Roth's comments reflect broader worries about the ability of Twitter to manage harmful content and maintain user trust amidst substantial organizational changes.

In a letter dated June 2023, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration reported that YouTube’s January 2023 layoffs had reduced its team responsible for global misinformation policy to just one person.

A letter from the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration states that Meta has reduced its election-related staff from 300 to 60 employees, representing an 80% decrease. Further layoffs are also planned.

YouTube will no longer remove content that advances false claims of widespread fraud, errors, or glitches in the 2020 and other past U.S. presidential elections, effective June 2, 2023. The platform keeps other policies like prioritizing authoritative search results and removing false information regarding voting procedures. 

Ella Irwin resigned from her role as Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety after holding the position for seven months, following the resignation of her predecessor.

X has expanded its Community Notes feature, a crowdsourced moderation tool, to include images. This update comes as concerns about the spread of deepfake images rise. The new feature aims to help users identify misleading or manipulated images by allowing the community to add context and annotations.

Meta has made substantial staff reductions, cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce, which initially numbered around 87,000 in 2022. The company announced 11,000 layoffs in November 2022 and a further 10,000 in March 2023. 

Twitter's workforce was reduced by 80% following Elon Musk's acquisition. In 2022, the company employed 7,800 people. Since then, 6,300 employees have been laid off.

Twitter removed state media labels from all accounts, including outlets such as BBC, NPR, and other publicly funded media. This decision followed backlash against the labeling, now allowing content from state-affiliated media, including those from China and Russia, to circulate without designation. 

Digital Media Company, Starboard aquired Parler and immediately shut down the website with plans to integrate user base into other existing publishing platforms. 

Google introduced the Ads Transparency Center, a searchable database which include filters for finding information about political advertisements. The searchable ads go back to 2018. 

TikTok’s updated policy prohibits synthetic media containing the likeness of any real private figure. While public figures have more latitude, TikTok restricts their use to prevent abuse and misleading content on political or financial issues. TikTok also disallows synthetic media of public figures for endorsements or any content violating other policies. To support disclosure, TikTok introduced new labels and began testing an "AI-generated" label, which it plans to apply automatically to content detected as AI-edited or AI-created.

In a letter to Meta employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined a plan to restructure the company's workforce by increasing the ratio of engineers to other roles. This shift is part of Meta’s "Year of Efficiency" initiative to streamline operations.

Following its decision to allow political ads, Twitter announced two new processes: a certification process for ad sponsors and a disclosure process for political ads. The specifics of the certification process are not publicly available. Users can request a disclosure report online to access details about political ads running on the platform, placing the burden on the public to seek this information rather than Twitter providing proactive disclosure.

Meta announced that it readmitted former President Donald Trump to its platforms after a two-year suspension. The company will monitor his account with "guardrails." The decision followed a review of his ban, which was initially imposed due to the risk of further incitement of violence following the January 6 Capitol riot.

Twitter has lifted its ban on political ads, with policies varying by country. In the United States, the policy is permissive but prohibits false or misleading content related to elections. This includes misinformation about election participation, content intended to intimidate or dissuade voters, and information that undermines public confidence in elections. The review process for determining what constitutes "false or misleading" was not disclosed.

Meta ended contracts for about 200 content moderators in early January 2023 and laid off at least 16 members of Instagram’s well-being group. Additionally, the company cut more than 100 positions related to trust, integrity, and responsibility. These staffing reductions also halted the development of a new fact-checking tool designed to allow third-party fact-checkers to add comments to questionable articles on Facebook.

Twitter suspended, without notice, the accounts of multiple journalists, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, and independent journalist Aaron Rupar. Twitter claimed the suspensions were due to the journalists' engagement in doxing behavior against Elon Musk. 

Twitter re-emables Twitter Blue verifications, a paid service that allowed users to obtain a blue checkmark, a symbol traditionally reserved for notable public figures, corporations, and influential accounts. 

Twitter’s new Head of Trust and Safety said that under Elon Musk's leadership, the platform is increasingly relying on automated systems to moderate content. This shift includes reducing manual content reviews and focusing on restricting the distribution of certain content rather than removing it entirely.

Twitter's new enforcement philosophy focuses on de-amplifying content that violates its terms rather than removing it. The approach is described as “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.”

Elon Musk announced a "general amnesty" for suspended Twitter accounts following a user poll on the topic. The amnesty led to the reinstatement of users previously banned for offenses including violent threats, harassment, and spreading misinformation.

Twitter reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account. His account was originally taken down after January 6, 2021.

Musk announced his plans to reverse the ban in May 2022, then announced his reinstatement in a tweet. 

Yoel Roth, Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety, resigned in November 2022. In an op-ed published a week later, Roth emphasized the challenges of maintaining principled content moderation under Elon Musk's leadership, stating that a platform "whose policies are defined by edict has little need for a trust and safety function dedicated to its principled development."

Meta has laid off the leadership and staff of the Meta Journalism Project, which has not posted any new milestones since March 2022. This move is part of a broader shift in Facebook's approach to journalism, as the company has recently terminated several news-related programs, including Instant Articles and Bulletin. Additionally, Facebook has stopped paying U.S. publishers for their stories, renamed the "News Feed" to "Feed," and announced that its "Top Stories" section will soon be curated by algorithms instead of humans.

Near the 2022 election, Twitter cut 15% of its Trust and Safety team, including Neema Singh Guliani, who led democracy, national security, and civil rights policy. Other teams critical to content moderation, such as the Product Trust team—which develops policies to prevent new features from harming users—and the Health team—which implements Trust and Safety policies—faced even heavier cuts.

Meta updated policies on Facebook and Instagram to allow political ads that challenge results of past elections including the 2020 elections, which can now be described as "stolen" or "rigged." Media outlets reported this policy change nearly a year after it was implemented, noting the quiet shift made after the 2022 midterms without public announcement.

Twitter fired several top officials, including Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy, and safety. Gadde was responsible for the decision to suspend President Trump's account. 

Elon Musk announced that Twitter would form a content moderation council with diverse viewpoints but did not provide timeline or specifics for delivery.

Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter on October 27, 2022, in a deal valued at approximately $44 billion. Following the acquisition, Musk immediately took control of the company, dissolving the board of directors and naming himself CEO. He posted "the bird is freed" to announce the closing of the deal.  

"Meta is merging its business integrity unit, the team that moderates ad content, with its central integrity team, which moderates users' posts, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios." 

Meta disbanded its Responsible Innovation Team, which comprised approximately two dozen engineers, ethicists, and other specialists. The team collaborated with internal product teams, outside privacy experts, academics, and users to identify and address potential concerns and downsides related to new products and changes to Facebook and Instagram.

Parler was reinstated on the Google Play Stores: "Parler has substantially modified its app to comply with Play Store's policies" a Google spokesperson said. 

YouTube introduces an educational campaign aimed at improving media literacy by providing tips on recognizing manipulation tactics used to spread misinformation. The campaign addresses techniques such as using emotional language and cherry-picking information. Initially, the campaign will launch in the United States, with plans to expand to other countries over time.

Facebook explored banning political advertising starting in summer 2021 but abandoned the idea by summer 2022. The decision came amid concerns about the impact of Elon Musk's approach to free speech on Twitter.

TikTok launched the Elections Center to connect users engaging with election content to authoritative information and sources in over 45 languages. The in-app center features videos encouraging critical thinking about online content and provides information about voting. For actions requiring user information, such as voter registration, users are directed to external websites like state sites or relevant non-profits

TikTok has initiated efforts to educate content creators about the importance of proper disclosure when posting political content. The platform states that if it discovers political content was paid for and not properly disclosed, the content is promptly removed.

TikTok implemented labels on content related to the 2022 midterm elections and on accounts belonging to governments, politicians, and political parties in the United States in an effort to increase transparancy and help users identify political content more easily. 

X announces enhanced account security measures for government officials, candidates for office, and journalists ahead of the 2022 elections. 

Twitter introduced the Election Explore Tab for the 2022 elections, a centralized hub for real-time political conversations, resources, and breaking news. The tab also includes public service announcements (PSAs) about voting.

Twitter announced the rollout of candidate account labels for the 2022 U.S. elections to prevent the spread of fake accounts. The labels are visible on candidate profiles and in tweets. They also announced a redesign of its misleading information labels for the 2022 elections and "pre-bunks." The pre-bunk prompts appear directly on users' timelines and in search results when people type terms, phrases, or hashtags associated with misinformation. 

Facebook updated its Ad Library to provide users with additional information about political ads, including details on targeting choices made by advertisers and how ads are delivered to different audiences. 

Twitter stopped the removal of posts related to the "Big Steal" conspiracy theory, citing that its Civic Integrity policy only applies during active election periods. The decision means that content falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen will no longer be subject to removal.

The Facebook Papers show that based on internal studies, the company was aware of the harmful effects of their platform including spreading of false information leading up to the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. 

Facebook announced an updated policy regarding QAnon stating, "we will remove any Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts representing QAnon, even if they contain no violent content. This is an update from the initial policy in August that removed Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts associated with QAnon when they discussed potential violence while imposing a series of restrictions to limit the reach of other Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts associated with the movement." Later updates to the policy include redirecting user searches for "QAnon" to reputable sources and working to identify other militarized social movements.

"Apple has approved Parler’s return to the iOS app store following improvements the social media company made to better detect and moderate hate speech and incitement," CNN reports.

TikTok reports that in the second half of 2020 they implemented measures to safeguard election integrity including: 347,225 videos were removed in the United States for election-related misinformation, disinformation, or manipulated media; TikTok’s U.S. elections guide, providing authoritative information, was visited 17,995,580 times; Public service announcements (PSAs) on election-related hashtags reached 73.7 billion views, reminding users to follow guidelines and verify information. Banners directing viewers to the elections guide were added to 6,978,395 videos.

Google announced it would lift its temporary ban on political ads, which had been imposed following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. 

Parler has resumed operations online, now hosted by SkySilk Cloud Services. The platform has implemented a basic content moderation system featuring a "trolling filter" that covers posts attacking individuals based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or religion. Users can still access these filtered posts by opting to click through the filter.

Facebook announced an initial effort to reduce the amount of political content shown in users' News Feeds, with exceptions for official government agencies and authoritative health organizations like the WHO. This shift invovled placing less emphasis on comments and shares when ranking political content and incorporating feedback from user surveys to adjust content visibility.

By March 14, 2024, Facebook decided to stop promoting any political content in users' feeds, except for accounts that users actively follow.

YouTube released an overview report of their efforts to support election integrity in 2020. The publication date of the report is unclear but overviews policies until January 2021.

Key policies in manipulated media, voter suppression, candidate eligibility, incitement to interfere in democratic processes, and presidential election integrity are overviewed.

Twitter introduced "Birdwatch," a community-driven program that allows users to identify and annotate tweets they believe are misleading. Users can write notes providing context to misleading tweets. Initially launched as a pilot, Birdwatch (later renamed Community Notes) requires notes to be upvoted by other members before they are publicly visible. 

Twitter has discontinued its Ad Transparency Center (ATC), which was initially designed to provide transparency for political and issue-based ads. The decision followed the platform's prohibition of political and issue ads in November 2019 and the introduction of a Cause-Based Ad certification and review process. The ATC is no longer deemed necessary given these changes, although an archived version of the tool remains accessible.

While Gab takes down illegal content, it does not remove "politically incorrect opinions," and was widely used to communicate about the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. Taking down such content is seen by the platform as censoring free speech. 

Google implemented a temporary ad freeze under its 'Sensitive Events' policy, targeting ads related to the January 6 Capitol riot, election outcomes, the presidential inauguration, impeachment processes, and future protests on these topics. This policy aims to slow the spread of misinformation by preventing advertisers from running ads on these sensitive subjects.

In the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, Parler was removed from the Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) due to its failure to moderate violent content, which posed a risk to public safety. Without a hosting platform, Parler went offline, disrupting its operations entirely.

Twitter permanently suspended the @realDonaldTrump account due to the risk of further incitement of violence following the January 6 Capitol riot. The decision was based on an assessment of President Trump's tweets against the Glorification of Violence policy, which determined that his tweets violated the policy and warranted a permanent suspension.

This suspension was later lifted November 2022. 

Following January 6th U.S. Capitol riot, YouTube introduces a system for channels that violate policies. Users will recieve a warning for the first violation, followed by a one-week posting suspention for a first strike. A second strike within 90 days will result in a two-week suspension, and three strikes in the same period will lead to permanent removal from the platform. Deleting the content does not erase strikes.

President Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram due to concerns about incitement of violence.

President Trump's initial indefinite ban from Facebook and Instagram was later amended to a two-year ban following a recommendation from the Oversight Board. 

He was later allowed back on the platforms in February 2023.

YouTube announced it would remove videos promoting claims that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The policy applies to any content uploaded on or after December 9, 2020, following the safe harbor deadline for states to certify their election results.

Facebook banned the original "Stop the Steal" Facebook group within two days of its inception and after it gained more than 320,000 users. The group revolved around claims of election fraud in the U.S. presidential election. The New York Times reports that a Facebook spokesman said, "The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group."

TikTok addressed the spread of stolen election conspiracies by enforcing its existing "banned hashtags" policy on related hashtags. However, enforcement was inconsistent, with some hashtags being removed while others remained active.

Facebook's implements "Break the Glass" emergency measures to limit the spread of misinformation and content that could incite violence pre and post U.S. presidential election period. These measures include, in part, restrictions on groups with a history of rule violations; algorithmic changes to control virality of live or otherwise harmful content including, “demoting content that [Facebook] systems predict to be violence and incitement…[and] temporarily reducing the distribution of content [Facebook] systems predict may be false pending review by a third-party fact-checker;” and enhancing moderation by removing content violating voter interference policies.

Facebook and Twitter introduced a warning label for posts that claim a premature victory in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. One of the labels states "Official sources called this election differently." Another label says "Official sources may not have called the race when this was tweeted."

Google updated its Hacked Political Materials policy to prohibit ads that directly facilitate or advertise access to hacked material related to political entities under its elections ads policies. Discussion of hacked materials is still allowed, but the promotion of such content through advertisements is now restricted. Hacked material is defined as material "obtained through the unauthorized intrusion or access of a computer, computer network, or personal electronic device, even if distributed by a third party."

Twitter began labeling and restricting misleading Tweets, applying warnings, and using "prebunks" to provide context on issues like delayed results and mail-in voting. They also promoted Quote Tweets (encouraging users to add their thoughts when resharing) instead of Retweets. However, in December 2020, the company ended this approach, reporting that it "didn't appear to increase context."

Twitter restricted the visibility of a New York Post story about Hunter Biden, citing its policy on hacked materials. The platform took this action while awaiting fact-checking of the story.

Facebook temporarily reduced the distribution of a New York Post article about Hunter Biden while it awaited verification from third-party fact-checkers. This measure was taken as part of Facebook's policy to limit the spread of potentially false information before its accuracy could be confirmed.

Twitter announced a policy update stating that tweets encouraging violence, or calling for interference with election results or the smooth operation of polling places, will be removed. This measure aims to ensure the integrity and safety of the election process.

To curb the spread of misinformation, Twitter implemented new design features that limit interactions with tweets labeled as misleading. Users must tap through a warning to view these tweets, and only the Quote Tweet option is available—likes, replies, and retweets are disabled. Additionally, these tweets will not be algorithmically recommended. The feature is targeted specifically at U.S. political figures, U.S.-based accounts with over 100,000 followers, and those with significant reach.

Facebook and Twitter introduced a warning label for posts that claim a premature victory in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The label reads: "Votes are being counted. The winner of the 2020 US Presidential Election has not been projected. See Election updates."

Facebook updated its policy to ban posts that "use militarized language or suggest that the goal is to intimidate, exert control, or display power over election officials or voters." This change was made to help prevent the spread of content that could incite violence or intimidation during elections.

Facebook announced that it will not run political ads for one week following the 2020 election. This decision aligns with a similar move by Google, aiming to limit the spread of misinformation and prevent potential voter manipulation during the post-election period.

Twitter introduced a "prebunking" strategy by placing information at the top of users' feeds to counter false narratives about voting by mail and election results. This initiative aimed to preemptively address misinformation before it spread widely.

Twitter implemented a policy for handling premature claims of election victories. To recognize results, the platform requires either an official announcement from state election authorities or a projection from at least two authoritative, national news outlets. Tweets with premature victory claims will be labeled and direct users to Twitter’s official U.S. election page.

YouTube expanded its use of information panels by including the topic of 'voting by mail' as one that prompts a panel to appear, linking to authoritative information when discussed in videos. This change is part of YouTube’s broader effort to provide context around election-related content.

Google announced that it would stop running political ads across all its platforms, including YouTube, after polls close on Election Day. This decision was made to address concerns about potential misinformation in the period between the close of voting and the announcement of official results.

YouTube introduced a "How to Vote" feature, providing authoritative information on voter registration, deadlines, ID requirements, and voting methods, such as in-person or mail-in voting. Additionally, YouTube rolled out timely reminders across its platform and social media handles in the weeks leading up to the U.S. election, offering guidance on how to register, vote, and find polling locations. YouTube collaborates with third-party data partners, like Democracy Works, to ensure accurate and non-partisan information.

YouTube launched YouChoose 2020, an interactive voting special that uses popular YouTube themes to guide viewers through the key steps of voting. These public service announcements (PSAs) are delivered through information panels, using formats like cooking tutorials comparing voting to following a recipe or auto repair videos explaining the "nuts and bolts" of voting.

YouTube broadened its election advertising transparency to cover U.S. state-level candidates, officeholders, ballot measures, and ads mentioning federal or state political parties. These ads are now searchable and viewable in YouTube's ad transparency tool, making it easier for users to understand political ad campaigns at the state level.

As part of its Civic Integrity Policy, Twitter introduced a feature prompting users to think twice before retweeting content flagged as potentially misleading. This includes a description of the Tweet or article summarizing why the content may be problematic or why the term is trending, encouraging more informed sharing decisions.

Facebook implemented a policy preventing new political ads from being published during the final week leading up to Election Day. Existing ads could continue running, but no new political ads are allowed to launch. 

The Election Hub features news in both English and Spanish, presented through Twitter Moments created by reputable outlets. It includes livestreams of debates and election events, along with voter education PSAs to inform users about voting processes and key election-related information.

Twitter introduced heightened security measures for high-profile accounts during the 2020 U.S. election. This included enabling password reset protection, implementing more sophisticated detection systems to identify suspicious activity, and encouraging two-factor authentication for accounts of government officials, candidates for office, and journalists to protect them from hacking and interference.

The labeling policy now applies to key government officials, including foreign ministers, ambassadors, official spokespeople, and key diplomatic leaders. Twitter also announced that it will no longer amplify state-affiliated media accounts or their tweets through its recommendation systems.

YouTube's updated policy prohibits coordinating with other sites or accounts and concealing or misrepresenting your identity or other critical details when content relates to politics, social issues, or matters of public concern.

Facebook expands its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy to include certain anarchist groups, U.S.-based militias, and QAnon, restricting their ability to organize while allowing non-violent supportive content. The change targets movements presenting "significant risks to public safety" but falling short of Facebook's full ban criteria. In September Facebook updated the policy to prohibit anyone from "running ads that paraise, support or represent militarized social movements and Qanon."

TikTok expanded its fact-checking efforts by partnering with PolitiFact and Lead Stories to address potential misinformation related to the 2020 U.S. election. These partnerships aim to ensure that false information related to the election is flagged and addressed swiftly.

The whistleblower's documents reveal issues with Twitter's handling of election integrity. The concerns raised include the platform's inadequate measures for enforcing its election policies, highlighting gaps in its ability to manage misinformation and enforce rules effectively.

TikTok has updated its community guidelines to explicitly prohibit synthetic or manipulated content that misleads users by distorting the truth of events, particularly when such distortion could cause harm. The update aims to enhance protection against shallow and deep fakes, making the policy clearer and more targeted for users.

TikTok has introduced a specific option in its in-app reporting feature for election misinformation. This new feature allows users to easily report misleading content or accounts related to elections for review, enhancing the platform's ability to manage and address such misinformation.

Facebook announced as part of their voting information efforts, "everyone in the US who's voting age will see a message at the top of the Facebook app with information about how to register to vote."

Also, according to CNET, Facebook began labeling posts about voting from federal officials and candidates, including presidential candidates in the United States, to direct users to credible information sources like usa.gov/voting.

Facebook introduced new ad spend trackers for U.S. House and Senate races. These trackers allow users to see how much candidates are spending on advertisements and which topics are being promoted. This feature aims to increase transparency in political advertising.

Facebook's new Voting Information Center provides authoritative information about voter eligibility, absentee ballot requests, in-person voting, and deadlines. The goal is to register four million voters, doubling the target from two million in 2016 and 2018. A link to register to vote is prominently displayed at the top of the page for all users aged 18 and older.

U.S. users can now turn off all social issue, electoral, or political ads from candidates, Super PACs, or other organizations that include the “Paid for by” political disclaimer. This option builds on Facebook's previous features for ad control.

Facebook annoucned it will begin enacting its October 2019 plan to label content from "media outlets that are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government." It also announces that it will be labeling ads from those publishers later in the year and that some foreign state-controlled media will be blocked from advertising, stating, "State-controlled media outlets rarely advertise in the US. Nevertheless, later this summer we will begin blocking ads from these outlets in the US out of an abundance of caution to provide an extra layer of protection against various types of foreign influence in the public debate ahead of the November 2020 election in the US."

Later updates in June 2020 include blocking "adds from state-controlled media outlets targeted to people in the US;" in August 2020 adding labels on Instagram in the "About this Account section;" in September 2020 adding labels on Instagram "to posts and profiles."

In May 2020 Twitter's Civic Integrity Policy is updated to say "You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process."

Twitter enforces rules banning content in the following categories: 1) misinformation on how to participate in the civil process, 2) suppression and intimidation, and 3) false or misleading affiliation. 

YouTube introduces fact check information panels in the United States. Information panels were introduced in 2018. The fact check panels rely on third party fact checking networks linking authoritative source material in the panel. 

YouTube has expanded its identity verification requirements to include all advertisers, not just those in political categories. Advertisers must now submit personal identification, business incorporation documents, or other information to verify their identity and the country in which they operate.

Twitter has introduced a labeling system for synthetic or manipulated media. Labels are applied based on three criteria: whether the media is synthetic or manipulated, whether it is shared in a deceptive manner, and whether it is likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm. On a case-by-case basis, Twitter may also reduce the tweet's visibility and/or alert users before they like or retweet the content.

TikTok updated its community guidelines and per Axios states that “misinformation that's created to cause harm to users or the larger public is prohibited, including misinformation about elections or other civic processes” may be removed.

Facebook announced a new policy to remove manipulated media, such as deepfakes and videos altered through AI, if they meet certain criteria. The policy targets media that has edited to mislead or deceive people or that might cause real-world harm. Facebook continues to work with fact-checkers and also partners with Reuters "help newsrooms worldwide to identify deepfakes and manipulated media through a free online training course."

Elections are not specifically highlighted in this version but are mentioned in future iterations. 

 TikTok's policy, implemented during the 2020 election and continuing in future cycles, involves redirecting searches for misleading hashtags to its Community Guidelines instead of showing results. This approach aimed to combat misinformation associated with hashtags such as #sharpiegate, #stopthesteal, and #patriotparty, as well as QAnon content. 

TikTok introduced banners on election-related videos to direct viewers to an elections guide for up-to-date information and results.

TikTok introduced an in-app election guide designed to provide comprehensive information about the U.S. elections. The guide offers details about federal, state, and local candidates through BallotReady, and provides voting information for every state, powered by the National Association of Secretaries of State. Additionally, it includes educational videos covering misinformation, media literacy, and the election process, created in collaboration with MediaWise. The guide is designed with user privacy in mind, requiring users to visit external websites or non-profits for actions involving personal information, such as voter registration.

YouTube expanded its use of information panels to cover topics identified as prone to misinformation or conspiracy theories. When users watch videos related to these topics, the platform displays panels that link to third-party sources offering factual information. 

YouTube has clarified its ad policies to include specific restrictions on election-related content. The updated guidelines prohibit manipulated media, such as "deep fakes," and misleading claims about processes like the census. The updated election ad targeting policy limits audience targeting to general categories, specifically age, gender, and broad geographic locations, such as postal code areas. 

Facebook expanded its policies to address harmful activities related to voter and census fraud and interference. The policy prohibits content that encourages or promotes illegal participation in the voting or census process, such as offers to buy or sell votes or instructions for committing voter fraud. It also covers misrepresentations regarding the dates, locations, or methods of voting or voter registration, as well as misinformation about who can vote, candidate eligibility, or participation requirements. Additionally, the policy aims to prevent content suggesting that participating in the voting or census process may lead to law enforcement consequences, such as arrest or deportation.

Twitter announced a ban on all political content advertisements, covering both candidate ads and issue-based ads. 

Facbook announces several new policies including showing the confirmed owner of a page, labeling state-controlled media, a new U.S. presidential candidate spend tracker, clearer fact-checking labels, and $2 million investment to support media literacy projects.  

Facebook launched a dedicated policy section on Inauthentic Behavior, distinguishing it from its previous categorization under Misrepresentation. The policy defines Inauthentic Behavior as deceptive actions intended to conceal the identity of the organization behind a campaign, make it appear more popular or trustworthy than it is, or evade enforcement. This includes a prohibition on foreign government interference, specifically Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior conducted on behalf of foreign or government entities.

Facebook introduced "Facebook Protect," a security program designed to offer enhanced protection for the accounts of political candidates, elected officials, and their teams. The program includes additional security measures, such as two-factor authentication and real-time monitoring for suspicious activity to prevent hacking.

TikTok announced that while paid advertisements are allowed on the platform, political ads are prohibited. The platform specified that political ads, including those promoting or opposing a candidate, current leader, political party, group, or issue at the federal, state, or local levels, do not align with the TikTok experience. This ban also includes election-related, advocacy, and issue-based ads.

Facebook implemented a ban on paid advertisements that suggest voting is useless or that advise people not to vote. This policy shift followed a recommendation from a civil rights audit, aimed at combating voter suppression and misinformation during the election process.

In defense of Facebook’s decision to allow political advertisements, Zuckerberg stated that banning such ads would disproportionately favor incumbents and candidates who receive more media coverage. He argued that political ads provide an essential platform for candidates, particularly those with less public exposure, to communicate their messages.

In a public letter outlining GAB content policies, Gab CEO Andrew Torba outlines Gab’s stance on free speech, rejecting the censorship policies of major tech companies while emphasizing that the platform strictly bans illegal content such as threats. Torba describes Gab as a neutral platform that upholds the values of American free speech laws, especially the First Amendment, and collaborates with law enforcement to handle unlawful activity. Torba calls for a decentralized, people-driven future of free expression online.

Facebook introduced stricter requirements for political advertisers, aiming to confirm that the entity running the ad is U.S.-based. Organizations must now provide a Federal Election Commission ID, Tax-ID number, or a government website domain that ends in .gov or .mil. The goal is to help users on Facebook and Instagram better understand who is trying to influence them and why. Users can now view confirmed information about advertisers, including the type of identification provided, such as an EIN or FEC ID, allowing them to assess the legitimacy of the organization.

In a policy shift, Twitter decided to allow a tweet from President Donald Trump telling minority members of Congress to "go back to where you came from." This decision followed internal debates and policy reviews. 

Facebook's Ads Archive, initially launched in May 2018 to track political and policy-related ads, was replaced by the Ad Library. The new Ad Library includes all active ads across various topics, not just political or policy ads, and also displays historical data such as page creation dates, mergers, name changes, and management locations. Users can report ads for policy violations.

YouTube implements changes to reduce "recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways" using machine learning algorithms and human oversight. Google reports a year later that the policy is still in place and that recommendations limit the "reach of borderline content and prominently surface authoritative information." 

Responding to concerns over foreign involvement in the 2016 Election, Facebook introduced its "Inauthentic Behavior" initiative. This effort focuses on removing coordinated networks of inauthentic accounts, pages, and groups that attempt to manipulate public discourse.