Social-Media
Facebook is reportedly considering a ban on political advertising before the election
Facebook is reportedly considering a ban on political advertising prior to this year's US elections. Bloomberg published the news this afternoon, saying that the proposal is being debated internally, although it is not yet a firm policy. Sources also confirmed the discussion with The New York Times. The move would dramatically escalate Facebook's current plans to prevent misinformation or meddling in the 2020 elections.
Not much clarity on the proposal, but based on Bloomberg 's report, the blackout will be brief — a matter of days before the November election day.
Facebook has already allowed users to "turn off" political ads and add transparency criteria, and is seeking to provide accurate information to the voting center. But it's stopped short of banning ads on its own, in contrast to its rival Twitter, which last year announced a political ban on advertising.
Bloomberg writes that there are concerns about hindering efforts to "get out of the vote" or limiting how a candidate might respond to breaking news.
However, a ban would also protect Facebook from bad publicity from inflammatory ads — like Trump's ad that he removed because of Nazi imagery. For Facebook critics who claim that the platform encourages discord and exploitation, a temporary blackout can also be seen as a way of restricting its impact in the run-up to the election.
