As the US presidential election fast approaches, retailers, law enforcement agencies and social media networks are preparing for potential violence and misinformation.
With just days to go, Donald Trump is battling to hold on to the White House against challenger Joe Biden, as the country for new COVID-19 cases and security experts warn the 3 November vote could bring renewed civil unrest.
Hrair Balian from the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Centre said some of the things happening in the US were alarming.
"What we fear is that guns, protests and elections do not mix well," Mr Balian told NPR.
Here are some of the precautions being taken, should tensions arise.
Retailers board up
Shops are boarding their windows and ramping up security in anticipation of potential protests.
Video filmed in New York and Washington showed several retailers taking precautions, including major department store chain Macy’s.
High-end stores Nordstrom and Tiffany and Co are also among those planning to board the windows of select stores, with Nordstrom also hiring extra security, the New York Times reported. Saks Fifth Avenue also told the newspaper it was "implementing additional security measures at certain locations in the event of civil unrest".
Images on social media showed shops in Los Angeles and San Francisco boarded up as well, and stores in Chicago have reportedly done the same.
Police deploy more officers
Police departments in major cities across the country are also putting more officers on the street around the election, or putting them on standby if trouble erupts.
In Beverly Hills, police will close the city’s famous Rodeo Drive shopping district on Tuesday and Wednesday in anticipation of potential "increased demonstration and protest activity".
The city's officers will also receive extra support from other law enforcement personnel and private security companies.
"The Beverly Hills Police Department will be on full alert throughout the residential and business district," police chief Dominick Rivetti said earlier this week.
"While we are hopeful for peaceful weeks ahead, your police department is prepared to protect your city."
Meanwhile, officers in New York City and other metropolitan areas have conducted "tabletop exercises" to prepare for emergency scenarios around the election, ranging from demonstrations to bombs.
The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness will be monitoring online activity on election day in case protesters try to gather around polling stations, according to Director Jared Maples.
In Chicago, authorities have discussed possibilities that include mass protests with violence and property destruction.
"Chicago: we have to be smart, safe and peaceful," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said this week.
"No matter the outcomes of next Tuesday’s election, we all know that elections will be high because they already are.
"I urge you to channel those emotions into peaceful and productive expressions."
Social networks seek to tackle misinformation
Social media platforms, meanwhile, are taking steps to limit the spread of election-related misinformation online or calls to violence.
Instagram on Thursday announced it would temporarily remove the "recent" tab from hashtag pages for users in the United States.
"We're doing this to reduce the real-time spread of potentially harmful content that could pop up around the election," the social media platform said in a statement.
The "recent" tab arranges hashtags in chronological order and amplifies content. But researchers have warned that automated amplification can lead to the rapid spread of misinformation.
Earlier this month, Twitter said it would remove tweets calling for people to interfere with the election process, including through violence.
Twitter has also announced several temporary steps to slow amplification of content. For example, to at least the end of election week, global users pressing "retweet" will be directed first to the "quote tweet" button to encourage people to add their own commentary.
Facebook earlier this week said it had derailed a fledgling deception campaign orchestrated from Mexico, which posted on topics including racial injustice, feminism and the environment, and included a small bit of content posted in the past by the Russian Internet Research Agency.
Facebook did not link the campaign to Russia, saying it had so far only traced control to unspecified people in Mexico.
Concern over guns
Amid rising tensions during a week that saw , Walter Wallace Jr, Walmart on Thursday said it would remove firearms and ammunition from the floors of its US stores to protect customers and employees.
Some observers saw the move as a sign of worry ahead of the election. But a day later, Walmart said it had begun returning stock to the floors.
"After civil unrest earlier this week resulted in damage to several of our stores ... we asked stores to move firearms and ammunition from the sales floor," the company said.
"As the current incidents have remained geographically isolated, we have made the decision to begin returning these products to the sales floor today."
In June, Walmart pulled firearms and ammunition from some stores amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
A woman cleans up debris at a Walmart, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, that was damaged during protests in Philadelphia. Source: AP
Walmart sells guns and ammunition at about half its US stores, primarily in locations where hunting is popular.
In Philadelphia, where Mr Wallace was killed, District Attorney Larry Krasner has vowed to prosecute anyone carrying guns who tries to intimidate voters.
"The Second Amendment does not protect people who pretend to be a militia and have not been summoned by a governor," he told CNN on Friday.
"So if you want to dress up like GI Joe and claim you are 'protecting the polls' when we all know you're intimidating voters, you're getting locked up."
Americans bought a record 16.7 million firearms this year as of September 2020, according to .
With Reuters and AFP.
