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We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

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Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#71

Post by Spooky23 »

hoorayimhelping wrote: post #43
hadrien01 wrote: post #33

The best solution, and currently in effect as law in many European countries, would be to stop political ads altogether on Facebook and the Web. No more "hey who is paying for that anti-XXX political ad?", they just wouldn't exist anymore. Plus, less money raised and spent by political campaigns. Also, this article comes just one week after that one: "Facebook’s political ad tool let us buy ads “paid for” by Mike Pen…

For varying definitions of best. We have the first amendment in America. It says the government can't make laws that limit a private citizen's ability to express themselves (among other things). That includes their political advertising. This is a really dangerous / slippery precedent to set, and the whole "we should change longstanding laws to deal with a problem that feels like a local maximum" is something that ma…

The first amendment doesn’t require Facebook to publish candidate ads or Russian propaganda.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#72

Post by thejerz »

hadrien01 wrote: post #33

The best solution, and currently in effect as law in many European countries, would be to stop political ads altogether on Facebook and the Web. No more "hey who is paying for that anti-XXX political ad?", they just wouldn't exist anymore. Plus, less money raised and spent by political campaigns. Also, this article comes just one week after that one: "Facebook’s political ad tool let us buy ads “paid for” by Mike Pen…

America has a 1st amendment which protects free speech. Implicit in that covenant is the responsibility on the recipient, not the transmitter, to determine truthfulness. If you care whether Mike Pence actually paid for that ad, go research it -- and if you can't, don't rely on it being true.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#73

Post by taurath »

jdminhbg wrote: post #52
taurath wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Facebook is to be the public square, then it needs all the protections and consequences that come with it. You can’t say you’re a senator on a TV ad - that’s impersonating an elected official which is a plenty reasonable curb on free speech - just as you can’t walk around with a police officers uniform. There is SOME limit to speech in terms of fraud.

That's fine, but it depends on the value of you in "You can't say you're a senator." Is Vice liable for fraud here? Facebook? And don't forget, the OP is responding to GP proposing simply banning political ads on Facebook altogether, not simply fraudulent ones.

That you need to ask the question sort of implies that there is 0 value to Facebook in catching that they were defrauded - if thats right, then there's nothing wrong with regulation. If Facebook doesn't have the ability to determine who is running ads, then I agree with the GP that political ads should be banned on Facebook altogether.

I'm sorry, we make people show ID to buy cigarettes and beer - mass political advertising needs SOME sort of regulation.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#74

Post by jimnotgym »

SilasX wrote: post #39
andrewflnr wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simplest way would be for him to say, "hey, I'm never going to buy ads on my own site, so don't let anyone impersonate me." If Zuck wants to tell us something on Facebook, he'll just put a banner at the top of our feed. Or if he does want to run ads as himself, he'll pull some other founder-fiat move. Keep in mind the engineering motto of the company we're talking about. They don't need to stick to the rules.

Corporate boards usually have controls against appropriating company resources for personal use.

Presumably there is a tax implication too? In the UK this would probably be a benefit-in-kind and taxed say it's market value as income.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#75

Post by Implicated »

evgen wrote: post #38
warent wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine one time. Then everything else imports the `MZ_CONST` file which then references the `MK` or `ZBERG` variables.

Nah, things just refer to him as fbid 4.

Who are 1, 2 and 3?

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#77

Post by lucasmullens »

thejerz wrote: post #68
zallarak wrote: post #57

Unpopular opinion: who cares? I think the business is gross, and I have not had a Facebook account for 10 years. If you disapprove of it, just don't use it. Complaining about Facebook's actions is like complaining about sugar being unhealthy. Don't force sugar to change its molecular composition, just stop eating it.

100% agree. No reasonable person browsing the internet has an expectation of truth. When someone says, "But Facebook told me this ad was paid for by Nancy Pelosi," the answer isn't to pass regulations forcing Facebook to verify advertisers, the answer is to reply to that person, "And why did you believe them?"

I think most reasonable people think that a Facebook ad that says it's paid for by Nancy Pelosi is in fact paid by her. Facebook shouldn't have a "paid for by" feature if they can't stand behind it.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#78

Post by taurath »

734786710934 wrote: post #26
40acres wrote: post #13

Facebook would not be where it is today if their programmatic advertising tools were not friction-less, it's going to be interesting to watch them balance ease of use for customers while securing their system vs. bad actors.

You have to give Facebook a copy of your ID, your SSN and wait for them to snail-mail you a code before you can get as far as Vice did. There's nothing friction-less about it.

And apparently, after you do that, you can post as whomever you want. Maybe you'll have a little personal liability (after the election, if someone can find any law enforcement that actually cares), but thats what the campaign war chest is for.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#79

Post by lucasmullens »

zallarak wrote: post #57

Unpopular opinion: who cares? I think the business is gross, and I have not had a Facebook account for 10 years. If you disapprove of it, just don't use it. Complaining about Facebook's actions is like complaining about sugar being unhealthy. Don't force sugar to change its molecular composition, just stop eating it.

Hacker News is a discussion forum. What do you mean "who cares?" The whole point is to talk about stuff.

Re: We posed as 100 Senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them

#80

Post by evo_9 »

hadrien01 wrote: post #33

The best solution, and currently in effect as law in many European countries, would be to stop political ads altogether on Facebook and the Web. No more "hey who is paying for that anti-XXX political ad?", they just wouldn't exist anymore. Plus, less money raised and spent by political campaigns. Also, this article comes just one week after that one: "Facebook’s political ad tool let us buy ads “paid for” by Mike Pen…

I think it should go further - ban all political ads, period. They do more harm than good, are mostly designed to confuse and obscure the topics and/or candidate(s).

Instead of ads have the politicians debate on live TV to express their political views. Post the debates online for everyone to watch at their leisure.

Leave the measures/proposals to us to research; in Colorado we get an excellent voter guide that clearly explains the measures, including pros/cons. That's all I use.

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