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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

#151

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.

Europeans have bureaucrats in Brussels who are not elected by anyone. Thats way worse than allowing some dose of political advertising, as a whole.

As for Freedom of Speech, several European countries have actually very specific limitations on what one can say, while such restrictions are way lower in the US. Plus, the US has a strong constitution on that matter, while in Europe depending on the country it is certainly not as clearly written down.

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

#152
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to run for office, how else do you tell the voters what you want to do, and why they should vote for you?

Debates, press interviews and conferences, town halls, canvassing...

Most of the press will not even care about you if you are not in the big 3 or 4 parties. So no, does not work.

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

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>...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.

Europeans have bureaucrats in Brussels who are not elected by anyone. Thats way worse than allowing some dose of political advertising, as a whole. As for Freedom of Speech, several European countries have actually very specific limitations on what one can say, while such restrictions are way lower in the US. Plus, the US has a strong constitution on that matter, while in Europe depending on the country it is certain…

There are many positions in the US that are not elected positions. When's the last time you voted for a supreme court justice?

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

#154
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>...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.

If you want to run for office, how else do you tell the voters what you want to do, and why they should vote for you?

there is a difference between advertising and communication, and precedent has been set for bans on certain topics/products for certain types of advertising, tobacco and alcohol being the notable examples

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

#155
This seems criminally negligent. Especially so given all the other election as I ssues in the last election... Why isn’t Facebook taking this more seriously?

We seriously cannot expect corporations to do the right thing. We need to regulate political ads and have campaign finance reform. Our democracy is beginning to rot.

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

#156
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europeans have bureaucrats in Brussels who are not elected by anyone. Thats way worse than allowing some dose of political advertising, as a whole. As for Freedom of Speech, several European countries have actually very specific limitations on what one can say, while such restrictions are way lower in the US. Plus, the US has a strong constitution on that matter, while in Europe depending on the country it is certain…

There are many positions in the US that are not elected positions. When's the last time you voted for a supreme court justice?

[deleted]

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

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>...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.

Europeans have bureaucrats in Brussels who are not elected by anyone. Thats way worse than allowing some dose of political advertising, as a whole. As for Freedom of Speech, several European countries have actually very specific limitations on what one can say, while such restrictions are way lower in the US. Plus, the US has a strong constitution on that matter, while in Europe depending on the country it is certain…

The "bureaucrats in Brussels" are nominated by EU Parliament members, who in turn are elected every five years directly by citizens in European elections. They are there not because the EU is anti-democratic, but because you cannot realistically expect elected representatives to deal with every single detail. Otherwise, you would be in a direct democracy.

Doesn't the same thing happen in the US? Federal and state agencies are full of non-elected employees that take impactful decisions on a daily basis, but I don't see many Americans complaining about a lack of democracy in the USA because of this.

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

#158

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…

what's a political ad? Is an ad for a Michael Moore movie a poltical ad given his movies are poltical?

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

#159

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.

> It is clear that the Western Democracies have at least as much freedom of speech as the US.

In light of this recent EU case, I would tend to disagree: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/its-not-fr...

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

#160

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…

I think the problem comes when you define it as ‘some’ political ads.

This is unfortunately never the case. It’s either none, or floods of them.

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