Facebook ramps up election security efforts ahead of 2020

With just over a year left until the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Facebook is stepping up its efforts to ensure it is not used as a tool to interfere in politics and democracies around the world.

The efforts outlined include a special security tool for elected officials and candidates that monitors them for hacking attempts such as login attempts from unusual locations or unverified devices. Facebook said it will also label state-controlled media as such, label fact-checks more clearly and invest $2 million in media literacy projects.

The company also announced it has removed four networks of fake, misinformation-spreading accounts based in Russia and Iran. These networks sought to disrupt elections in the U.S., North Africa and Latin America.

In the past year, Facebook says it has taken down 50 such clusters of accounts, a sign that efforts to use its services to disrupt elections aren’t letting up.