Facebook Will Pay Users to Deactivate For Election

It’s no secret that stakes are high going into this year’s election. So high that Facebook is willing to pay you to deactivate some of your apps and Instagram ahead of November 3rd.

According to the New York Post, Facebook will pay users as much as $120 as part of a study. Participants would need to deactivate their accounts at the end of September. “Anyone who chooses to opt-in – whether it’s completing surveys or deactivating FB or IG for a period of time – will be compensated,” Facebook spokesperson Liz Bourgeois tweeted. “This is fairly standard for this type of academic research.”

Facebook feels they will have between 200,000 and 400,000 people participate in the study. The goal is to assess the impact of social media on voting in the much heated election this year. “Representative, scientific samples of people in the US will be selected and invited to participate in the study. Some potential participants will see a notice in Facebook or Instagram inviting them to take part in the study,” Facebook said. “Study samples will be designed to ensure that participants mirror the diversity of the US adult population, as well as users of Facebook and Instagram.”

The company announced it won't be allowing any new political ads in the weeks leading up to the election and will also monitor for false or misleading information about mail-in voting and the election results. It was just last week that Facebook announced they had new rules for political ads aimed at blocking misinformation in regards to the  U.S. presidential election.

The results of the deactivation assessment will be announced in 2021.