Social media giant Facebook is reportedly considering plans for a total ban of political advertisements on its platform in the days leading up to the 2020 US Presidential Elections in November. According to sources familiar with the matter, the company has been reviewing the potential impact of the ban since November of last year.
The same sources claim that the company had yet to make a concrete decision on the matter as it is still being discussed internally. The reported internal review of the measure comes as the company is under increased scrutiny for allowing political ads that are promoting false information on its platform.
Facebook's chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, has repeatedly defended his company's stance in allowing such ads. He even previously stated that it would be a bad idea to fully ban political ads on its platform.
Social media company Twitter had already decided to pull down all political ads on its platform since last year. The company's CEO, Jack Dorsey, had explained that political influence and reach should be earned and not bought.
Zuckerberg had argued against banning political ads, stating that Facebook's platform is still a vital tool for politicians to get heard. He explained that the voices of new challengers, local candidates, and political groups need to have a platform to be heard. If Facebook decides to pull the plug, incumbents and those that are covered by the media will have an unfair advantage.
The executive further pointed out that it would be difficult to determine what post or ad can be considered political in nature. Some ads are not directly promoting a candidate but they could be promoting his or her agenda or platform. By going through this route, ads about important issues such as immigration, women empowerment, and healthcare could be considered as political ads.
Back in October, Zuckerberg acknowledged that there are a lot of concerns about the proliferation of political ads on its platform. He stated that they are trying to come up with a solution to the issue.
The CTO of the Democratic National Committee, Nell Thomas, reacted to the news of the possible ban and stated that a total ban isn't really a permanent solution to removing disinformation on Facebook. She added that a ban would make it incredibly difficult for grassroots campaigns to be heard by voters. Instead of banning political ads, Thomas suggested that Facebook could instead find other remedies to fight disinformation on its platform.
