Facebook says it will ban political advertising the week before the US election, one of its most sweeping moves against disinformation.

This comes as the social media giant’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned of a “risk of civil unrest” after the vote.

The social media giant also vowed to fact check any premature claims of victory, stating that if a candidate tries to declare himself the winner before final votes are tallied “we’ll add a label to their posts directing people to the official results.”

And it promised to “add an informational label” to any content seeking to delegitimize the results or claim that “lawful voting methods” will lead to fraud.

“I’m concerned about the challenges people could face when voting. I’m also worried that with our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to be finalized, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country,” Zuckerberg said in a post.

“This election is not going to be business as usual,” Zuckerberg, who has come under increasing pressure to do more to combat conspiracy theories at Facebook, said.

“We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy. That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest.”

(AFP)