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In the present day, we’re sharing an replace on our work to arrange for and assist protect the integrity of the final elections happening in Nigeria on 25 February 2023.
This work will proceed within the lead-up to, throughout and after the vote. It’s grounded in long-running investments we have now made in folks, expertise and partnerships to assist scale back the unfold of misinformation, detect and take away hate speech, enhance digital literacy, assist make political promoting extra clear and make sure the security of individuals utilizing our platforms.
Eradicating Dangerous Content material to Maintain Individuals Protected
We wish folks to have the ability to discuss brazenly on our apps in regards to the points that matter to them, while nonetheless feeling protected. Our Neighborhood Requirements (additionally accessible in Hausa) publicly clarify what content material is and isn’t allowed on Fb and Instagram, and canopy plenty of areas related to elections. These embrace insurance policies on harassment and incitement to violence, in addition to detailed hate speech insurance policies that ban assaults on folks based mostly on traits like ethnicity or faith. Once we turn into conscious of content material that violates these guidelines, we take away it.
Since 2016, we’ve quadrupled the scale of our international workforce engaged on security and safety to 40,000 folks. This contains over 15,000 content material reviewers who assessment content material throughout Fb and Instagram in additional than 70 languages — together with Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.
As Election Day approaches, we’ll activate a Nigeria-specific Elections Operations Middle centered on figuring out potential threats throughout our apps and applied sciences in actual time, accelerating our response time. This initiative will carry collectively consultants from throughout our firm on our intelligence, knowledge science, engineering, analysis, operations, public coverage and authorized groups.
Combating Misinformation and False Information
We take away essentially the most critical sorts of misinformation from Fb and Instagram, reminiscent of content material that might contribute to imminent violence or bodily hurt, or that’s supposed to suppress voting. This contains false information associated to voting dates, places, time and strategies. For the Nigerian elections, based mostly on steerage from native companions, this can particularly embrace photographs and movies shared out of context that falsely depict ballot-stuffing, acts of violence or weapons.
For content material that doesn’t violate these specific insurance policies, we work with unbiased fact-checking organisations in Nigeria — AFP, Africa Examine, Dubawa and Reuters — who assessment and fee content material in English, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. When content material is rated “false” or “partly false” by these truth checkers, we connect warning labels to the content material and scale back its distribution in Fb Feed so persons are much less prone to see it.
To assist Nigerians spot and take motion towards false information on-line, we’ve partnered with native radio stations to create “#NoFalseNewsZone” radio dramas in English and Pidgin, and run advertisements on Fb and radio in Yoruba, Pidgin, Hausa and Igbo.
Addressing Virality on WhatsApp
WhatsApp will proceed to restrict peoples’ skill to ahead messages and introduced final 12 months that any message that has been forwarded as soon as can solely be forwarded to at least one group at a time, fairly than the earlier restrict of 5. Once we launched the identical characteristic for extremely forwarded messages in 2020, we diminished the variety of these messages despatched on WhatsApp by greater than 70%.
WhatsApp’s Search the Net perform additionally lets folks double-check the textual content content material of messages which were forwarded many instances. Which means that they will discover different sources of details about content material they’ve obtained.
Individuals may management who can add them to group chats and have choices to dam and report unknown contacts, giving them much more management over their privateness.
Making Political Promoting Extra Clear
Advertisers in search of to run advertisements associated to social points, elections or politics on our apps in Nigeria should bear a verification course of to show who they’re and that they dwell within the nation. Their advertisements may also be labelled with a “Paid for by” disclaimer to indicate who’s behind it.
We’ve additionally launched new controls so folks can select to see fewer advertisements about social points, elections and politics. When folks use these controls they’ll now not see advertisements which can be labelled with the “Paid for by” disclaimer.
We make sure that all advertisements are added to our Advertisements Library for seven years, so that everybody can see what advertisements are running, see details about focusing on and learn how a lot was spent on them.
Combating Election Interference
We’ve constructed specialised international groups to cease election interference, specializing in coordinated inauthentic behaviour (CIB) — when teams of individuals use subtle networks of Pages, Teams and accounts to try to manipulate public debate.
Since 2017, we have now eliminated greater than 150 networks globally for coordinated inauthentic behaviour together with forward of main elections, and we stay vigilant to this behaviour. We’ll take away and publicly share particulars of any networks of CIB that we establish throughout our applied sciences associated to the election.
Working With Native Organisations
We’re working intently with election authorities, together with The Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee, and different native companions in Nigeria to make sure we’re making ready appropriately for the precise challenges an election brings.
We’ve got engaged with girls security organisations reminiscent of TechHer, ElectHer, Nigerian Ladies’s Belief Fund, and WIMBIZ to help a variety of initiatives that encourage civic engagement. We’ve additionally supplied digital safety and security coaching for weak teams together with feminine politicians, public figures and human rights defenders.
We’ve got additionally supplied coaching for grassroots civil society organisations which can be working to stop and counter violent extremism in Nigeria, organised in partnership with Seek for Widespread Floor, and performed a roundtable with consultants, lecturers and assume tanks which can be engaged on counterterrorism efforts within the nation.
Encouraging Civic Engagement
In the case of elections, folks ought to have quick access to correct info from credible sources. That’s why we’ve supported Yiaga Africa, a non-partisan voter schooling non-profit, by way of a donation to develop a voter schooling chatbot on WhatsApp.
Launched on February 1st, 2023, the chatbot helps present Nigerian voters with safe info on voting guidelines, positions up for election, what to anticipate on voting day and the instruments they should train their vote. Anybody can entry the chatbot by messaging +234 (0) 906 283 0860 on WhatsApp or click on wa.me/+2349062830860.
We’ll even have an “I Voted” sticker on Instagram. And on Election Day, we’ll remind folks within the nation that it’s time to vote with a notification on high of their Fb Feed as nicely.
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