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TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

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Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#11

Post by adolph »

kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

See also preference falsification:

* A person who hides his discontent about a fashion, policy, or political regime makes it harder for others to express discontent.*

One socially significant consequence of preference falsification is widespread public support for social options that would be rejected decisively in a vote taken by secret ballot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preference_falsification

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#12

Post by adolph »

tarjei wrote: post #2

As much as I fear the China with regard to censorship, I think this could be a wise move for all social media platforms. There are two reason why I think this: a) Political advertising on social media is very hard to police as you can create huge amount of versions of each ad and target very different audiences. b) Political advertising at volume favors the richest campaigns with the largest amount of knowledge about…

How is political defined? What happens in the US is that if certain financing is unavailable to be used in a certain way, like direct support of a candidate or party, then that money is shifted into “issue advertising” which presents a topic of political disagreement to favor one side over another. Within the information domain of a political debate, there may be human activities that are non-political but political organizations disguise themselves within, for example, adoption services in the abortion debate. Many messages, such as car advertising have an implicit political message that public funding of roads is positive and liberating. Maybe Norway has the line between political and everything else figured out or maybe there is a cultural definition that makes it easier, but banning political advertising seems very difficult.

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#13

Post by fennecfoxen »

kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

I fear you have an excessively optimistic view of the processes by which humans will form opinions under this proposed regime.

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#14

Post by LocalH »

neflabs wrote: post #4
tarjei wrote: post #2

As much as I fear the China with regard to censorship, I think this could be a wise move for all social media platforms. There are two reason why I think this: a) Political advertising on social media is very hard to police as you can create huge amount of versions of each ad and target very different audiences. b) Political advertising at volume favors the richest campaigns with the largest amount of knowledge about…

This isn't about political ads, it's about silencing any politics on the platform. There are over 80 million US downloads of TikTok as of October 2018, with an active user count of 40 million [1]. This means China's authoritarian regime is influencing the political discussion of 40m+ US citizens. You say this ban is good, I disagree. In the US, a lack of informed political discussion is one major factor keeping young…

This isn't about political ads, it's about silencing any politics on the platform.

That's not true at all, at least not on the surface. Do you have any proof of anyone being banned as a user for posting political content?

From the article: “Any paid ads that come into the community need to fit the standards for our platform, and the nature of paid political ads is not something we believe fits the TikTok platform experience,” says Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s VP of Global Business Solutions, who recently joined the company from Facebook.

“To that end, we will not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, current leader, political party or group or issue at the federal, state or local level — including election-related ads, advocacy ads or issue ads,” he says.

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#15

Post by jdietrich »

kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

You don't need a complete ban, just sensible financial limits. In the UK, campaign spending by political parties must not exceed £30,000 ($38,000) per candidate. That's enough money to inform potential voters of your policies, but little enough to reduce the influence of money in politics to a minimum. The EU referendum was highly controversial because some campaign groups may have spent over £15m ($19m) nationally, which I understand is chump change in the US.

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/party-or-campa...

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#16

Post by captainmuon »

kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

> Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion.

How can society change for the better if you can't communicate and try to convince people of your ideas in the public space? If you see a problem and think you have a (political) solution, you should be able to advertize your solution.

There is a de-facto ban on political advertizing (or "worldview" advertizing) in Germany, and it is really frustrating. The army can run ads looking for recruits, but you cannot run an ad for a peace campaign. There are ads for cigarettes, soft drinks, and alcohol, but most places won't let you run an ad to advocate, lets say, better healthcare.

Basically, this just helps cement the political status quo.

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#17

Post by [deleted] »

liotier wrote: post #10
chrisseaton wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a lack of informed political discussion Was TikTok was an appropriate place for informed political discussion?

The forum is the right place for political discussion, regardless of what the forum is. As for the political discussion being "informed", that is subjective.

[deleted]

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#18

Post by DisruptiveDave »

kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

I had a thought recently: What if we voted for policies instead of people? A bunch of policies are put forward, we vote on those, then we choose people to implement them/oversee their implementation. I'm sure this falls down under any level of analysis, but as someone who has avoided politics all his life, it seems soooooo ridiculously silly to hold this popularity contest / PR event we call elections.

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#19

Post by dexen »

kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

>Political advertising should be banned entirely

This strikes way too close to throwing the 1A out the window, in all the ways that touch the everyday activities.

That sci-fi book you wrote, with Lord Admiral character? It was a manifesto for a new governance system. That meme you shared online a month ago? It's now associated with a particular candidate. Your proposal voiced in parent's meeting at school? It's a political position favoring a particular social group.

Not to say everything is political, no. However any single aspect of life can, and many ultimately will, be talked about and negotiated on by a politician or a political movement at some point.

I often wonder how we would vote if we were blind to the opinions of the media, celebs and friends.

The biggest difference would be among candidates and the policies they propose. Presently the celebs & the media gate-keep which opinions & political programs are acceptable.

We effectively have two Overton Windows, and the candidates are constrained to the overlap of the two. The first Window is the usual voters' preference, expressed freely in the privacy of the voting booth. The second Window is maintained by the media - only the candidates that espouse certain views & policies get to be listed on the ballot, endorsed by mainstream parties, etc. All other ones get to be "crazy crystal lady"[1] at best, and maybe even "celebrated & defended by Russia's propaganda machine"[2].

--

[1] https://news.yahoo.com/marriane-williamson-190502156.html

[2] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/russia-s-prop...

Re: TikTok explains its ban on political advertising

#20

Post by HunOL »

captainmuon wrote: post #16
kypro wrote: post #3

Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. As a side note, I wish there was less exposure to political opinion in general. I think there's a problem in how a single celeb, or a close friend talking about their political views can be so influential. Not because they've made a particularly good argument, but because that person is trusted or looked up to. I often wonder how we would vote if we were…

> Political advertising should be banned entirely in my opinion. How can society change for the better if you can't communicate and try to convince people of your ideas in the public space? If you see a problem and think you have a (political) solution, you should be able to advertize your solution. There is a de-facto ban on political advertizing (or "worldview" advertizing) in Germany, and it is really frustrating.…

> How can society change for the better if you can't communicate and try to convince people of your ideas in the public space? If you see a problem and think you have a (political) solution, you should be able to advertize your solution.

It increase impact of money. Who have more money more likely to win.

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