In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, Facebook and other tech giants are facing the major problem of trying to stop the spread of disinformation. That’s why Facebook, Google and Twitter met with government officials this week and released a joint statement, pledging to “stay vigilant” ahead of November.

Facebook came under particularly intense scrutiny after the 2016 election for allowing foreign propaganda to spread unchecked. That’s why the platform now says that it intends to make it “more difficult” for users to lie as it steps up its fight against bad actors.

“I think I actually want to make the act of trying to tell a lie, or misleading people, more difficult,” Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said. “As someone who works on security, ensuring that voters have accurate information about an election is critical to protecting that election. Disinformation flourishes in uncertainty, and we’ve seen people take advantage of that uncertainty to drive influence operations and other types of deceptive campaigns.”

Of course, what Facebook says and what it does are often two very different things. But at least the company is aware of the problem this time around, and it will be closely watched to make sure it follows through on its promises.

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