Keely Goodall19 April 2024 | 15:44

Meta forked out $20bn on election protection tech in 8 years

Meta platforms launch an anti-hate speech and misinformation campaign in South Africa.

Meta forked out $20bn on election protection tech in 8 years

WhatsApp and Facebook. Picture: Pixabay.com

John Perlman speaks with Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director, Africa at Meta

Listen to the interview in the audio below.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is clamping down on hate speech and misinformation before elections.

This campaign will run on all its platforms in order to ‘protect the integrity of the upcoming election.’

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Users of Meta platforms should be able to identify and report content that is deliberately designed to mislead or misinform them with this campaign.

Siddo says that they have a comprehensive approach that they have used for years and are well equipped to manages this campaign.

“No tech company does more or invests more to protect elections online than Meta.”
- Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director, Africa at Meta
“We have invested more than $20 billion in teams and technology in this area since 2016.”
 - Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director, Africa at Meta

If users are found guilty of posting content that violates the guidelines the content will be removed they could face a temporary or permanent ban from the platforms.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to interview.