US 2020 election is Facebook's highest priority, says COO Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said the U.S. presidential election is the company’s “highest priority“ for 2020.

The social-media company faced intense criticism after Russian state-backed actors manipulated voters during the 2016 campaign. Next year will be “a massive test for us,” Sandberg said Thursday at Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead conference in New York.

In a wide ranging discussion, Sandberg touched on other big themes for 2020, including antitrust investigations and political ads.

Facebook has been under pressure in recent weeks for its position of not fact-checking ads from politicians. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has vigorously defended