Facebook is paying people to shut down their accounts ahead of the election

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As part of Facebook’s latest study on how social media impacts democracy, the company appears to be paying users to log off of its products ahead of the 2020 US presidential election, according to new screenshots posted by Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Dwoskin on Thursday. Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it was partnering with outside researchers to study the impact its social media products have on society during the upcoming US presidential election. Facebook expects around 200,000 to 400,000 users will opt in to the project. Once they’ve opted in, the company will be able to see how they interact with its products, including both Facebook and Instagram. “To continue to amplify all that is good for democracy on social... Continue reading…