Creating Facebook events near the White House will be banned on the platform through President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration day.
Facebook announced Friday that it will block the creation of new Facebook events taking place near the White House, the U.S. Capitol building, and state capitol buildings.
According to the social media giant, they aim to prevent people from using its network to incite violence. Accounts and pages based outside the US won't be able to create events in the country as well.
Facebook also mentioned the restriction on other features for people in the US based on certain actions, such as repetitive violations of its policies. The company noted it could block those accounts from making live video or creating an event, Group, or Page. It would also make new measures as needed.
Earlier this week, Facebook said it would delete content with the phrase “stop the steal” from its services in the lead-up to the inauguration. Facebook had previously got rid of a “Stop the Steal” group from its services in November as well as various other related groups and pages since then. However, the company said it was observing this new measure following the insurrection at the US Capitol last week.
“With continued attempts to organize events against the outcome of the U.S. presidential election that can lead to violence, and use of the term by those involved in Wednesday’s violence in D.C., we’re taking this additional step in the lead up to the inauguration,” Facebook said in a blog post.
Moreover, the company said it will consider the next two weeks as a major civic event and prevent any misinformation or content that could lead to further violence.
The social media giant added it plans to livestream the inauguration in the Facebook News portion of its app and website. It will also label posts that aim to delegitimize the election that officially recognizes Biden as the sitting U.S. president.
The company said that political ads are still on a pause in the U.S.
According to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, the insurrection at the US Capitol had not “largely” been held on the social media company’s services. However, there were still groups that were able to post on Facebook about attacking the Capitol building before the riot last week, based on a CNBC report.
Last week, Facebook blocked Donald Trump from posting on his page due to the violence that transpired at the Capitol.
Trump’s supporters rallied at statehouses across the U.S. to protest against the counting of Electoral College votes.
For months, the outgoing Republican president falsely claimed that there was election fraud. Trump supporters stormed statehouses in Georgia, Washington, Ohio, Michigan, California, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and other states.
Trump urged Capitol Hill protesters to “go home” through a video on Twitter. However, he did not address demonstrations at state buildings. Still, he repeatedly claims the election was stolen from him.
