Social Media and Election Integrity: Facebook’s Role in Political Discourse

In the third episode of Season 2, the KSR podcast team sits down with Mo Safdari, a former Facebook staffer in charge of election integrity. This wide-ranging interview covers everything from Facebook’s values, to its content moderation, to the future of social media regulation. We explore the fine line between free speech and harmful content, and the difficulties of moderating political content worldwide in a fair and unbiased manner.

The Kennedy School Review’s Podcast explores the vast range of talents and experiences that HKS students and faculty bring to our community. We highlight student voices and bring students and faculty together to discuss the work they do. Subscribe on iTunes to make sure you never miss an episode.

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Mo Safdari was the Program Manager for Election Integrity at Facebook, where he spent six years working across abuse mitigation, product quality, and civic engagement. Currently, he is a MBA/MPP joint degree student at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

Hugh Verrier is a joint degree student pursuing a Master of Public Policy degree at Harvard Kennedy School and a JD at Harvard Law School. Prior to this, Hugh spent several years as a staffer on various political campaigns across the country. Hugh received his undergraduate degree at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and has a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge.

Photo courtesy of www.thoughtcatalog.com