Facebook Inc. announced Thursday that it will implement a “census interference policy” to ensure misleading information about the 2020 U.S. census isn’t shared on the platform.

In a post, the company said it will take down any misleading information as to when and how to take part in the census, while also removing any posts that tell people the census is “useless” or “meaningless” and they should forgo participating in it.

On top of that, Facebook said posts or ads misleading people as to who can participate will be removed, as will posts that lie to people regarding their privacy in the census. Facebook added that anything that limits a person’s ability to take part will be removed as well.

“These policies are due in large part to the work being done with the civil rights community through our civil rights audit and represent the culmination of a months-long process between Facebook, the U.S. Census Bureau and experts with diverse backgrounds to develop thoughtful rules around prohibiting census interference on our platforms and making sure people can use their voice to be counted,” said the company.

Enforcement will start next month. Facebook will employ its algorithm to detect posts that break the rules, while people can also flag posts. Anything flagged will then go to a team of reviewers. Even if posted by a politician, if the information violates the census interference policy it will be taken down.

Facebook added that some posts might not strictly violate the policy, but if still deemed inaccurate by fact-checkers they will be labeled and ranked lower in the news feed.

The new policy will be aligned with policies already in motion, so any bullying or harassment related to the census won’t be tolerated either. Neither will attempts to gather personal information in census-related posts, and if hacked census data is shared, that will also be removed from the platform.

Facebook follows Google LLC-owned YouTube, which last week also said it will remove any posts that misinform people about the census.

Photo: Jeremy W Osborne/Flickr