Facebook’s Civil Rights Audit Since then, Facebook has identified and removed a variety of content under the policy, including false assertions by multiple public figures that only citizens may participate in the census. Facebook has also demonstrated an improved ability to adapt to unanticipated circumstances: as described in more detail below, it has proactively identified and removed violating content using the COVID-19 pandemic to suppress or interfere with census participation — content which Facebook could not have anticipated at the time the census interference policy was developed. (ii) Policy Updates to Prevent Voter Intimidation. Since the 2016 election, Facebook has expanded its voter suppression policy to prohibit: • Misrepresentation of the dates, locations, and times, and methods for voting or voter registration; • Misrepresentation of who can vote, qualifications for voting, whether a vote will be counted, and what information and/or materials must be provided in order to vote; and • Threats of violence relating to voting, voter registration, or the outcome of an election. The June 2019 Audit Report acknowledged, however, that further improvements could be made to prevent intimidation and suppression, which all too often is disproportionately targeted to specific communities. Facebook committed to exploring further policy updates, specifically updates directed at voter interference and inflammatory ads. Since the last report, Facebook has further expanded its policies against voter intimidation to now also prohibit: • Content stating that voting participation may or will result in law enforcement consequences (e.g., arrest, deportation, imprisonment); • Calls for coordinated interference that would affect an individual’s ability to participate in an election (enforcement of which often requires additional information and context); and • Statements of intent or advocacy, calls to action, or aspirational or conditional statements to bring weapons to polling places (or encouraging others to do the same). These policy updates prohibit additional types of intimidation and threats that can chill voter participation and stifle users from exercising their right to vote. (iii) Expansion of Inflammatory Ads Policy. In the June 2019 report, Facebook committed to further refining and expanding the Inflammatory Ads policy it adopted in 2018. That policy prohibits certain types of attacks or fear-mongering claims made against people based on their race, religion, or other protected characteristics that would not otherwise be prohibited under Facebook’s hate speech policies. When the policy was first adopted, it prohibited claims such as allegations that a racial group will “take over” or that a religious or immigrant group as a whole represents a criminal threat. 22