Facebook announced it would not fact-check or remove politicians' posts that violate its community standards, Deutsche Welle reports.
Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs and communications, made the statement in a speech in Washington on Tuesday, as the social media network prepares for the presidential election in November 2020.
"We don't believe... that it's an appropriate role for us to referee political debates and prevent a politician's speech from reaching its audience and being subject to public debate and scrutiny," Clegg said.
While the social media giant claims it works to discredit false information intended to manipulate public opinion, it would not act as a mediator for appropriate political discourse.
"Would it be acceptable to society at large to have a private company in effect become a self-appointed referee for everything that politicians say?" Clegg asked. "I don’t believe it would be."