Need to Know
8 13 - 26 November 2019
What happened?
Twitterhasconfirmedthatit willban
politicaladvertisingamidcriticismof
theimpactofsocialnetworkson
democracy,butFacebookdoesn’tlook
settofollowitsrival’slead.
Twitter’splanswererevealedin a
seriesoftweetsbyco-founderandCEO
JackDorsey,saying:“Webelieve
politicalmessagereachshouldbe
earned,notbought”.Partofthe
motivation,hesaid,wasthecompany’s
effortstoaddressmisleadingmessages
andfakenewsin politics,whichis made
especiallyproblematicif politiciansand
theirfollowerscansimplypaytospread
a targetedmessagethatsayswhatever
theywant.“It’snotcredibleforusto
say:we’reworkinghardtostoppeople
fromgamingthesystemtospread
misleadinginfo,butif someonepaysus
totargetandforcepeopletoseetheir
politicalad...well...theycansay
whatevertheywant.”Heendedthat
tweetwitha winkingemoji.
Twitterwillnotonlybancandidates
fromtakingoutadsduringanelection,
butalladvertsrelatingtopolitical
issues,thoughit’snotclearexactlywhat
thatmeans.Dorseysaidthemovewas
toavoidissue-ledadsbeingusedto
circumventthepoliticaladbanbecause
a politicianortheirsupporterscould
buyadspromotingtheirstanceona
partisanissue– Brexitin theUKorgun
controlin theUS,forexample.Therewill
bea fewexceptions,withDorseynoting
thatadsin supportofvoterregistration
willbeallowed.
Themoveimmediatelysparked
questionsaboutwhetherrivalsocial
networkFacebookwouldfollowsuit
but,sofar,theansweris a resounding
‘no’.FacebookCEOMarkZuckerberg
saidona companyconferencecallthat
thesocialnetworkwouldcontinueto
acceptpoliticaladvertising,despitethe
formatonlycontributing0.5%ofthe
company’srevenue.
Zuckerberg’sargumentis thatpolitical
adsareusefultoolsforsmaller,emerging
partiesandgroups,givingchallengersa
voiceagainstincumbentswhoalready
havea substantialbaseoffollowers.
Whetherornotthatargumentholds
weight,it seemsFacebookwillcontinue
toallowpaid-forpoliticaladsfortheUK
generalelectionon 12 December.Howwillit affectyou?
ThefulldetailsofTwitter’spoliticalad
banwillbeunveiledin mid-November,
withenforcementbeginningon 22
November,whichsuggestspartiesand
contendersin theUK’sgeneralelection
canadvertiseforthefirstfewweekson
Twitterbutwillthenhavetohaltthat
aspectoftheircampaign.
Ofcourse,politiciansandtheir
supporterscanstillcampaignonthesite
byrelyingondie-hardsupporters
sharingandretweetingtheirmessages.
But,afterthe22nd,theywillnolonger
beabletopaytotargetspecificgroups
ofpeople,soyoushouldn’tseeany
politicaladsfromsomeoneyoudon’t
follow.Noneofthiswillstoppeoplespreadingpropagandaand
misinformationbutatleastthey’llhave
toconvinceotherstoshareit before
anyoneelseseesit,whichwillhopefully
limitandslowthespread.
Thereare,however,concernsabout
theimpactofthebanonsmallerparties
andgroups,whomaystrugglemoreto
gettheirmessageout.Socialmediais
aneffectiveadvertisingtoolthatthey’ve
nowlost.Dorseyarguesthatplentyof
socialmovementshavereacheda
“massivescale”withoutanyadvertising,
butdoesn’tnameanyexamples.Whatdowethink?
Thisprobablywon’thavea bigimpact
onthegeneralelection,thoughwelook
forwardtoanyresearchontheeffectof
thisattempttocleanupsocialmediafor
politics.Twitterfeelsveryimportant
whenyou’reonit – andmanyjournalists
are– butwith 16 millionUKusers
(accordingtotheLondonSchoolof
Economics),it’smuchlesspopularthan
Facebook,withitswhopping 42 million
UKusers,whichmustsurelycovermost
votersin thiscountry.
Facebookhassofarrefusedtoblock
politicalads,butTwitter’seffortsmay
increasethepressureonit todoso,
whichwethinkwouldbegoodnewsfor
everyone.AsDorseynotes,socialmedia
hasanimpactonourdemocratic
infrastructureandweshouldtakethe
timetounderstanditseffects.Twitter bans political ads
ahead of General Election
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted plans to
ban political ads on the social network
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