Facebook pledges tighter scrutiny for UK election

LONDON: Facebook said it will set up a dedicated UK operations center during the next election, to counter misinformation networks, fake news stories and outside interference from other countries.

Britain has consistently criticised Russia for attempting to manipulate elections around the world, while insisting there’s no evidence of interference in UK votes such as the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, after the company announced it had discovered four separate misinformation networks tied to Iran and Russia, Facebook executive Richard Allan said the company knows that “social media can bring significant new risks to the political process.”


“People who want to interfere unlawfully with the outcome of an election will use every available means to try and do so, including platforms like ours,” wrote Allan, vice president for public policy in Europe.