Elections: Meta opens operations center

Meta, formerly Facebook, has announced plans to activate an election operations center for Nigeria’s 2023 general election.

It stated that to help ensure a safe general election in the country, it was investing in people and technology to reduce the spread of misinformation and remove harmful content from its apps.

It made this known in a post titled “How Meta Prepares for Nigeria’s 2023 General Election” by Adaora Ikenze, head of public policy for Anglophone West Africa.

The company stated that its pre-election work would continue leading up to, during and after the vote.

It said: “As Election Day approaches, we will be activating a Nigeria-specific Elections Operations Center focused on identifying potential threats in our apps and technologies in real time, accelerating our response time.

“This initiative will bring together experts from across our company across our intelligence, data science, engineering, research, operations, public policy and legal teams.”

Meta explained that part of its strategy to combat misinformation and fake news is to remove serious types of misinformation from Facebook and Instagram, such as content that could contribute to imminent violence or physical harm, or is intended to solicit votes. suppress.

It stated that before the Nigerian election it would remove photos and videos shared out of context that falsely depict ballot stuffing, acts of violence or weapons.

Meta said it worked with independent fact-checking organizations such as AFP, Africa Check, Dubawa and Reuters.