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Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

nytimes.com

11–20 of 270 posts

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#11
post #5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$$$

Really? For a few last months of revenue versus potentially stopping an election result from being bought?

Do you think they favour a fair election over $$$? Do you think there is anything they favour over $$$ at this point?

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#13
post #2

> Political ads will be banned indefinitely after polls close on Nov. 3... Of course.

They were already going to be banned temporarily from 27th of October[0], this is just now a permanent ban.

[0]: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/167836590566506?id=28...

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#14
post #3
post #2

> Political ads will be banned indefinitely after polls close on Nov. 3... Of course.

What's the reason not to ban them immediately?

It violates the principle of free speech (even if it does not violate the letter of the law in the first amendment). There is nothing inherently bad about paying $1000 (or $1M) for a political ad.

For a mental image, someone paying for a political ad could be running for school board in a medium sized city. A ban on all political ads would restrict that person's ability to explain why they want to be on the school board, and would restrict that person's ability to advocate for new policies in their school district. Why do you want to impose a ban on this?

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#15
post #2

> Political ads will be banned indefinitely after polls close on Nov. 3... Of course.

I predict they walk that back when they realize the huge market for post election day ads for steering the narrative of when to stop counting votes.

See 2000 for a great example.

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#16
post #14
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the reason not to ban them immediately?

It violates the principle of free speech (even if it does not violate the letter of the law in the first amendment). There is nothing inherently bad about paying $1000 (or $1M) for a political ad. For a mental image, someone paying for a political ad could be running for school board in a medium sized city. A ban on all political ads would restrict that person's ability to explain why they want to be on the school bo…

Facebook is not committed to the principle of free speech in advertising, and prohibits advertisements for a great many things that are legal to advertise.

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#17
post #14
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the reason not to ban them immediately?

It violates the principle of free speech (even if it does not violate the letter of the law in the first amendment). There is nothing inherently bad about paying $1000 (or $1M) for a political ad. For a mental image, someone paying for a political ad could be running for school board in a medium sized city. A ban on all political ads would restrict that person's ability to explain why they want to be on the school bo…

I don't buy that argument, which just rewards whoever has the most money to throw at the advertising market (Bloomberg's signal failure in this regard doesn't invalidate the general problem). I like the clearly labeled and non-sensationalistic statements in voter information booklets, myself.

I am of course speaking in general terms about future elections rather than making drastic adjustments in the middle of this one.

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#18
This just seems like too little, too late.

Much of the problems I see aren't advertising in the traditional sense, but viral content from sketchy sources.

If they wanted to seriously affect this, they would prevent posts from spreading to tens of thousands/ millions of people without being vetted.

Re: Facebook widens ban on political ads as alarm rises over election

#20
post #2

> Political ads will be banned indefinitely after polls close on Nov. 3... Of course.

(googler, opinion is my own).

Google did the same thing: https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/25/21456323/google-election-...

As there is a good chance we won't know the result of this elect on election night (or possibly within the first week), the tech companies seem to be getting in-front of a potential problem to keep campaigns from drumming up any kind of fear about the election results after the polls are closed.

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