Social networks solved their 2016 election problems, buttheir 2020 problems are bigger

As many predicted it would, the outcome of the 2020 election is taking many days to determine. A surge of misinformation on social networks, led by President Trump and his family, has challenged social networks’ content policies and drawn fresh attention to their enforcement capabilities. It’s too early to answer whether the platforms have risen fully to the 2020 challenge. Given the bellicose nature of the Trumps’ pronouncements this week, their hardest work is very likely still ahead of them.

But in the meantime, I think it’s not too early to ask a related question: how did platforms handle the 2016 challenge in 2020?

After all, it was the aftermath of Trump’s election win that reshaped public opinion about tech platforms, drew broad...

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