PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 24: In this photo illustration, a visual representation of a digital ... [+]
Facebook is trying to convince U.S. regulators that it is ready to fight efforts by foreigners to interfere with the 2020 Presidential Election while at the same time promoting its Libra cryptocurrency that may make it easier to do just that.
The social media giant says it will accept the cryptocurrency anywhere where it takes payments and at least for now won't rule out allowing it to be used to buy political ads
“It’s still early, and we are currently focused on building Calibra (The Facebook division that will oversee Libra) and working with the Libra Association and its members to launch Libra next year," according to a Facebook spokesperson. "We don’t have any further specifics to share at this time.”
Some experts are concerned.
“If they design the system poorly then it will be easier for all of this problematic content to be funded,” Syracuse University Jennifer Grygiel recently told The Telegraph, a U.K. newspaper,
In response to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Facebook cracked down on fake accounts, deleting billions of them. The company also enacted new rules for political advertisers requiring them to prove their identities and to pay in the country's currency where the ad is running.
Russian hackers, though aren’t going to be timid about testing Facebook’s resolve given the trouble they went through in their 2016 disinformation campaign which according to a 2017 analysis by the New York Times reached a whopping 126 million Americans.
Facebook's cryptocurrency has ignited new interest in bitcoin, the largest and most well-known type of digital money, recently pushing its price to an 18-month high. According to Reuters, Facebook will face "unprecedented" regulatory scrutiny as it seeks to make Libra the currency of choice for the Internet.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency is making inroads in the world of politics.
Eight U.S. House candidates raised $550,000 in bitcoin contributions from 20 states between 2014 and 2018, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
States have varying views on cryptocurrency political contributions. Some such as Colorado, Kansas, and the District of Columbia permit it while others such as California outlaw the practice out of concerns over potential foreign meddling.
Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Andrew Yang and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) are taking cryptocurrency contributions.
Yang is “the most crypto-friendly presidential candidate ever to mount a serious campaign for the White House,” according to the cryptocurrency news site CCN. If elected, the entrepreneur has promised to fix the “confusing” regulations holding back the adoption of digital money.
Swalwell has said he is excited about the potential for the underlying blockchain technology of cryptocurrency which he says can "change the world."
“So much of our public life now exists online, and there’s no reason to believe we can’t extend this further into our democracy and our economy – from exercising our right to vote, to how we look at cryptocurrency,” he said
