The platform had discouraged campaigns from
paying other Instagram accounts but amended
its policies to allow them hours after the pro-
Bloomberg posts went up, as long as they
disclose who paid for the sponsored content.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, didn’t
collect revenue for the sponsored content so
it won’t catalog the posts for public viewing in
Facebook’s ad database, where anyone can see
how much a politician spent on messages.
His campaign has stirred up trouble on
Twitter, too.
Last week, Twitter suspended nearly 70 accounts
for posting identical pro-Bloomberg messages,
in violation of Twitter’s rules against spam.
Bloomberg’s campaign said the messages were
taken from an app that allows campaign staffers
and volunteers to share the language with their
friends and family. The campaign said it did not
create any of the accounts that were taken down
by Twitter.
Still, Bloomberg’s online campaign has
people talking.
His Facebook video ad of former President
Barack Obama describing him as a leader has
been powerful — and confusing.
In Obama’s hometown of Chicago, Rep. Danny
Davis, a longtime Democratic congressman,
has heard from people who thought Obama
had endorsed Bloomberg. And even those who
know Obama hasn’t endorsed Bloomberg find
the message highly effective, Davis said.
“They know that it does not say that Barack
Obama was endorsing Mike Bloomberg, but