Facebook Considering Political Ad Blackout Before US Election

The whole premise of your article is that by taking ad money facebook will face either administrative or voluntary backlash, which I don't think will happen.

Political ads are airing every day on radios and youtube, and you don't hear it as much. Just like Google getting hate for attempting a search engine in China while Bing has always been there. You can't predict the outrage machine because it is never fair.

AI?

I think people have read my comment as though I hate Trump and I'm gloating that FaceBook is turning against him. But I don't think that's a fair reading.

I am trying to describe what "is" and not "what ought to be."

In this instance I am making a point that I believe is underexamined: if you look at FaceBook through the lens of political positioning, it can be very powerful.

If it was the case today that Democrats had been in power for decades and there was some kind of realignment towards Republicans (as happened in the 90's), I think you'd see the reverse of this: FaceBook elevating conservative voices to moderation positions, or advancing a message of pure neutrality.

I've worked at Bay Area tech companies. They are usually very attuned to the climate they're in, and maneuvering to be in a better position.

The average person can be like bah, who cares? I'd rather live my life, enjoy my freedom. But a tech company has a lot more on the line.

And, in my experience, companies like FaceBook have even more to gain, or to lose. Millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions. Possible anti-competitive lawsuits and actions.

So, for them, a defeatist attitude of "it's all unfair so why bother" isn't good enough. Some ambitious lawyer or exec will advocate "I can do better than that - here's how" and lead their company in a different direction - and that's true for FaceBook also.

I'd also make the observation that FaceBook is trying to get regulatory approval for a cryptocurrency, and that's a delicate thing. For that, being viewed favorably, even by individual politicians, matters.

So for all those reasons (and please don't view it as a criticism of FaceBook), I think it makes sense that some of the things issuing out of HQ now are motivated by the political climate we find ourselves in.

Remember, FaceBook is a famously future-facing company. They invested in WhatsApp years before social was dominant, seeing the future 10 years in advance. And people believe they're not paying close attention to the next 3 months?

It's in their DNA. It's part of how they grew to be such a giant, successful company. And if you examine their actions, fairly but objectively, the evidence is there to see.