Facebook Wins, Democracy Loses
- 7 years ago
Facebook Wins, Democracy Loses
A core principle in political advertising is transparency — political ads are supposed to be easily visible to everyone, and everyone is supposed to understand
that they are political ads, and where they come from.
Ads on the site meant for, say, 20- to 30-year-old home-owning Latino men in Northern Virginia
would not be viewed by anyone else, and would run only briefly before vanishing.
An ad could falsely accuse a candidate of the worst malfeasance a day before Election Day,
and the victim would have no way of even knowing it happened.
And it’s expensive to run even one version of an ad in traditional outlets, let alone a dozen different versions.
The fact remains that in the arms race to keep propaganda flowing, human beings review troublesome accounts only long after the damage has been done
Ads could stoke ethnic hatred and no one could prepare or respond before serious harm occurs.
There is nothing mysterious or untoward about the system itself, as long as it’s being used for commerce instead of politics.
A core principle in political advertising is transparency — political ads are supposed to be easily visible to everyone, and everyone is supposed to understand
that they are political ads, and where they come from.
Ads on the site meant for, say, 20- to 30-year-old home-owning Latino men in Northern Virginia
would not be viewed by anyone else, and would run only briefly before vanishing.
An ad could falsely accuse a candidate of the worst malfeasance a day before Election Day,
and the victim would have no way of even knowing it happened.
And it’s expensive to run even one version of an ad in traditional outlets, let alone a dozen different versions.
The fact remains that in the arms race to keep propaganda flowing, human beings review troublesome accounts only long after the damage has been done
Ads could stoke ethnic hatred and no one could prepare or respond before serious harm occurs.
There is nothing mysterious or untoward about the system itself, as long as it’s being used for commerce instead of politics.