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

Post by kingofhdds » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:01 AM UTC

akiselev wrote: post #104

matthewowen wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tiresome argument. The first amendment guarantees freedom of the press (ie, the printing press). The clear aim is to guarantee not just the right to speech, but also the right to _distribute_ that speech. In fact, without that the right to freedom of speech is of limited value. This doesn't mean Facebook couldn't ban political ads, but it does mean it would be unreasonable for the government to do so.

And yet we regulate swear words and nude imagery on broadcast television because the airwaves are a limited public resource. First ammendment absolutism in the face of rapidly changing technology is way more tiresome.

Post by bobthepanda » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:11 AM UTC

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…

Post by Retric » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:14 AM UTC

gumby wrote: post #132

cle wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a serious comment? How do we communicate without advertisements? This is depressing.

I don't understand -- getting a message out is advertising by definition. Not everyone attends a rally and not every rally is (or needs to be) covered in the news. Also: in the US parties are less powerful (and not even mentioned in the constitution) so each candidate is presented individually and it's up to that candidate to bring up whichever issues (local or national) that they consider relevant. There is nothing…

Post by oh_sigh » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:19 AM UTC

TomMckenny wrote: post #89

hoorayimhelping wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>...political advertising... This is a euphemism for quid pro quo bribery. The Europeans and other democracies recognize it as such. It is clear that the Western Democracies have at least as much freedom of speech as the US. For example, they do not have leaders who get sport figures professionally banned for what is conspicuously an instance of unpaid political speech.

Post by IncRnd » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:26 AM UTC

dgudkov wrote: post #113

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 have a better idea -- every should contain (at least in metadata) public information about the organization who bought it. For political ads, there additionally should be the price paid for the ad.