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Facebook Widens Ban On Political Ads As Alarm Rises Over Election (nytimes.com) 105

Posted by BeauHD from the drastic-times-call-for-drastic-measures dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: On Wednesday, Facebook said it would take more preventive measures to keep political candidates from using it to manipulate the election's outcome and its aftermath. The company now plans to prohibit all political and issue-based advertising after the polls close on Nov. 3 for an undetermined length of time. And it said it would place notifications at the top of the News Feed notifying people that no winner had been decided until a victor was declared by news outlets. "This is shaping up to be a very unique election," Guy Rosen, vice president for integrity at Facebook, said in a call with reporters on Wednesday.

Facebook is doing more to safeguard its platform after introducing measures to reduce election misinformation and interference on its site just last month. At the time, Facebook said it planned to ban new political ads for a contained period -- the week before Election Day -- and would act swiftly against posts that tried to dissuade people from voting. Mr. Zuckerberg also said Facebook would not make any other changes until there was an official election result. But the additional moves underscore the sense of emergency about the election, as the level of contentiousness has risen between Mr. Trump and his opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr. On Tuesday, to help blunt further political turmoil, Facebook also said it would remove any group, page or Instagram account that openly identified with QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy movement. "We believe that we have done more than any other company over the past four years to help secure the integrity of elections," Mr. Rosen said.
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Facebook Widens Ban On Political Ads As Alarm Rises Over Election More

Facebook Widens Ban On Political Ads As Alarm Rises Over Election

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  • Winner was already delcared by news outlets (Score:4, Funny)

    by sinij ( 911942 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:10PM (#60582970)
    Why wait until after November polls if your standard is going to be "no winner had been decided until a victor was declared by news outlets".
    • Trump is polling rather badly after the first debate. It makes sense, he was kind of rude.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by whitroth ( 9367 )

        "Kind of rude"? He was almost foaming at the mouth.... We do put down mad dogs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by drwho ( 4190 )

      You're absolutely correct. The decision is that of the FEC, not the news outlets. I think they slipped up and showed us who actually controls things.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by whitroth ( 9367 )

      Yeah... why not do like the UK, where I believe all political advertising is banned nationwide from the Friday before the election, so that the screaming is shut off, and people have a chance to think?

  • The first question is, when did "news outlets" become the arbiter of our elections? And of course, the second question is, "Which news outlets?"

    • The first question is, when did "news outlets" become the arbiter of our elections?

      A couple of centuries ago.

      Once the votes are counted, the results have always been disseminated by the media.

      And of course, the second question is, "Which news outlets?"

      ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and FOX.

      If they all agree, that is good enough for me.

      • But the news media do NOT decide who wins. They only report who they think has one. They have indeed gotten it wrong with state and local elections at times. Statistics are such though that a well run exit poll will pretty much be on the nose.

        I'm always a bit disappointed in some elections because I keep thinking that those who vote in person are a different enough demographics than those who vote by mail, or those who vote in the morning versus the evening, and yet the predicted percentage numbers of va

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I think we can be fairly sure that neither candidate will be conceding defeat this time. Certainly not on the night.

    • News outlets are not,
      The actually arbiters are a mixture of their owners, and the fresh out of journalism school 'reporters' trying to get their big break by signaling virtue.

      The former have control as they are filthy rich, and intent to stay that way - they are quit comfortable in their position as our silent overlords while they rest of us fight to be 'equal' with each other.
      The later have control because they are willing to work for next to nothing, and have fire in their blood on issues indoctrinated in

  • Living on a Stamp and a Prayer (Score:5, Informative)

    by bobstreo ( 1320787 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:20PM (#60583004)

    Why not just ban all Political/Anti-Political Ads and News on BookFace until the election has been decided?

    The last thing you want is a "Private Company" deciding what you can or can't see during an election that will in all likelihood end up in the Second Civil War.

    • Wasn't that the plot in a Bond movie? Evil genius runs EvilMedia, Inc., starts war to get headlines.
    • Only one side is saying that civil trouble is "in all likelihood". Trump has already made numerous implied threats to drag this on as long as possible - not only if he loses but if it is even close to being close.

      • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        A soft coup is still a coup. Trump has every right to be paranoid, the deranged apparently have no limits to what they are willing to do to get him out of office.

        • Re: Living on a Stamp and a Prayer (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:38PM (#60583270)

          The deranged will also have no limits with what he will do to get a second term either.

        • Trump supporter: Please explain these issues. (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          From the parent comment: "Trump has every right to be paranoid, the deranged apparently have no limits to what they are willing to do to get him out of office."

          I'd like to see some careful thinking and explanation by Trump supporters that answers the issues mentioned on these web sites:

          99 Reasons to Dump Trump [nydailynews.com]

          A Catalog of Trump's Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes [mcsweeneys.net]

          A Closer Look [youtube.com], Late Night with Seth Meyers TV show. The jokes are usually not funny. The videos of Trump show what h

          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by sarren1901 ( 5415506 )

            It kind of boils down to this: Trump hasn't actually directly negatively affected the typical average person. If you aren't relying on the government for your food, medicine and housing then you can almost ignore politics altogether. Our individual votes hardly matter if your not in a battle ground state or otherwise not part of the lead party.

            Since I don't travel out of the states all that much I'm largely unconcerned with the goings on in most other countries.

            Furthermore, the Republican platform doesn't s

            • Trump hasn't actually directly negatively affected the typical average person.

              I'm not sure if I can put this all entirely on Trump, but if your employment has ceased due to the mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic, you might have some feelings towards those responsible in one way or another.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

              It kind of boils down to this: Trump hasn't actually directly negatively affected the typical average person. If you aren't relying on the government for your food, medicine and housing then you can almost ignore politics altogether. Our individual votes hardly matter if your not in a battle ground state or otherwise not part of the lead party.

              Pretty sure most Americans have been affected by coronavirus and his mishandling of it.

            • Trump hasn't actually directly negatively affected the typical average person.

              With 200000 dead, and 15% of the country unemployed at some point this year that is a pretty damn fucking hollow argument. Hell I'm not even American and live on the other side of the world and yet have a close friend deeply negatively affected.

              The problem is more generally: His supporters agree with him that it's all someone else's fault:

              China brought the virus, the democrats killed the economy, the greens spread the global warming myth that cost jobs in industry, Mexico smuggles all the drugs across the w

              • I don't know a single person to die of covid. I know several people that had it, including my wife and myself. Trump didn't give me fucking coronavirus. Working in retail probably contributed significantly more. Living in california, we've had mandated mask and social distancing since late March.

                At the beginning of this pandemic, Trump was starting to shut things down and then he got called a xenophobe because it was initially targeted at China instead of EU. Within a week, he gave control to the governs.

                If

      • Biden won't roll over like Gore did (Score:4, Insightful)

        by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @08:19PM (#60583490)
        there's too much at stake and, to be blunt, Biden is hungry for the presidency. He's been gunning for it his entire life and Hilary's disastrous campaign has put it back in reach.

        I don't actually care much for Biden, but I'm glad he's there. I wish he was 15 years younger, but he is probably the best we've got. Yeah, that sucks, but a General goes to war with the army he's given.
        • My ideal turn of events: Biden wins, has to stop down shortly due to health problems, leaving the presidency to Harris. Her being somewhat less experienced is a plus, she'll listen to the top experts whose voices have been very muffled of late.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by theCoder ( 23772 )

            [Harris] being somewhat less experienced is a plus, she'll listen to the top experts whose voices have been very muffled of late.

            Gah! That's what people said about Trump!

            OK, I don't know if anyone actually said that, but a similar argument could have been made in 2016. But we all know how that turned out. Lack of experience != willingness to listen to others.

            • I didn't say she lacked experience, just compared to Biden. On the other hand, Trump got heralded as a businessman instead of a politician. But you can't really hang all his unpolitical stuff onto that coat hanger either. I think as Vice she'll do okay, as president she'll be swimming... Anyway, good luck to you, and to all of us.
          • at least not for the Pandemic. He's sitting on a "Pandemic Playbook" written by those experts that he left Trump (and that Trump ignored).

            If anything I'd like them to listen to the "experts" on the economy a little less. Most of those are Goldman Sach's lackeys who just want to line their own pockets.

    • Why not just ban all Political/Anti-Political Ads and News on BookFace until the election has been decided?

      Ads often contain important information. They should not be banned.

      The last thing you want is a "Private Company" deciding what you can or can't see during an election

      Who should decide? You? The government?

      that will in all likelihood end up in the Second Civil War.

      We aren't going to have a civil war over universal health insurance or our trade policy with China.

      Much of the partisan conflict is inside-the-beltway politics that has little impact on ordinary people. The reporting is frenzied precisely because the stakes are so small.

      So, sorry, no civil war. 45% of the public won't even bother to vote.

      • True, no civil war. But there's a distinct chance of a tiny number of self appointed guardians of Trump's Democracy and Biden's Democracy might decide to start shooting at each other. The worry here is that there are people who do like to march with guns who want to go "monitor" the polling stations. That can't possibly go wrong. (but if it does the claim of self defence will get the person off in many states)

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • The last thing you want is a "Private Company" deciding what you can or can't see during an election that will in all likelihood end up in the Second Civil War.

      Oh, like commercial news organisations?

    • r can't see during an election that will in all likelihood end up in the Second Civil War.

      It's not going to be a second civil war. That's such a bad reading of the situation you should find better news sites to read.

    • The last thing you want is a "Private Company" deciding what you can or can't see during an election that will in all likelihood end up in the Second Civil War.

      Private companies have been deciding what you can and can't see for the best part of a century. Or maybe you're right and Facebook is evil and we should instead just get all of our balanced and well reasoned views from Fox Corporation or Warnermedia.

      Why not just ban all Political/Anti-Political Ads and News on BookFace until the election has been decided?

      Share holders generally found upon you blocking your most wealthy customers during peak purchasing season.

  • Same problem with trolls and propaganda that humans have always had to deal with just amplified by technology. The best solution is all you people become smarter about the information you believe. A heavy dose of skepticism would be enough. The alternative solution is to suppress the information you people are allowed to see and that is censorship. Anyone think that is a good idea?

  • Surprising (Score:3)

    by hdyoung ( 5182939 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:31PM (#60583050)
    Let's see what they actually do in terms of actions. Given their track record for this stuff "we're considering something" doesn't get them any points. This will cost them ad revenue and, like any business, they absolutely loathe leaving anything on the table.

    However, maybe, just maybe, they're reaching the conclusion that the politics is getting too hot to handle. More likely, they'll put up some fig leaf.
    • Notice they're not doing anything until -after- the election, at the soonest?

      • Well in this specific case, and yes it makes perfect sense too. An advertising company doesn't cut off it's most wealthy customers right during peak advertising seasons. They are doing other things, just nothing to block political advertising.

    • Given their track record for this stuff "we're considering something" doesn't get them any points.

      Their actions are already pretty strong. Facebook is already putting the ban hammer on so many accounts in the name of stopping election trawling that it's actually started to have knock on effects on legitimate users of their own products.

      The irony here being that a company that claims to be experts in handling of data, can't look at the data and tell the difference between that new account being a Russian bot and that new account being some dude who was forced to sign up to use their VR headset.

      It seems n

  • "manipulate the election's outcome" (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What the hell do you think "Advertising" is anyway??? We are doomed...

  • If Facebook valued our political system more than its profits. It would turn off all political advertising period.

    fuck Facebook.

    Just stop using it.

    • Is that why both Biden and Trump have run half time commercials during football games? Sadly, the usual outcome for most things is who spent the most on advertising. So glad I just stick to streaming services that don't show ads.

      I'll read about all my candidates and props, then make a more informed decision. Most political ads it's almost impossible to tell what the prop is actually in favor or who it will benefit or hurt. It's a joke.

      At this point, I would say cancel all political advertising and force peo

  • Fuck waiting, start prohibiting them NOW.

    This is not the time to be taking half-measures.

  • Everyone thinks their era is new and unique (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sideslash ( 1865434 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:02PM (#60583172)
    I don't believe Trump will refuse to step down and demand a 2nd (and 3rd! [rollingstone.com]) term. I don't believe Biden's team will refuse to accept a loss and initiate secession [nytimes.com] in the big blue West. It is very likely that there will be a clear winner, the loser will concede, the news media will report that, and we will be that much closer to ending the year 2020 - which even though it's been a horrible year, is not really so bad as others in history.

    Next up: it turns out that your grandparents knew about sex, too!

    • Re:Everyone thinks their era is new and unique (Score:5, Informative)

      by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @07:42PM (#60583406) Journal
      It's been enough of a problem in the past that the process is fairly well-defined as legal things go. The 1877 election [wikipedia.org].

      Remember it is not a vote of the people, it is a vote of the states, and each state must choose electors to make their votes by December 14, 2020. If the states don't decide by that day, they lose their vote.

    • Next up: it turns out that your grandparents knew about sex, too!

      Yes they did, but they didn't use internet based chastity devices to play with each other from across the globe.

      The reality is every new era is unique. Your premise seems to be that nothing exciting will happen, or that if something exiting does happen, that exiting things have happened before too. Sure, but different things have happened.

      You may not believe Trump will refuse to step down, me well ironically I agree considering he's lied about everything else in the past 4 years, so there's no reason to bel

  • Bastards (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sethmeisterg ( 603174 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:12PM (#60583198)
    The bastards have a pretty good idea that Biden is likely going to win and they don't want to get on his bad side. Too bad their balls were lost months ago when Trump was posting disinformation.

  • The news outlets will declare a winner that meets their twisted world views way before even the last votes are vounted.

  • gets popcorn

  • "This is shaping up to be a very unique election," Guy Rosen, vice president for integrity at Facebook, said in a call with reporters on Wednesday.

    I don't know how "unique" this really is, tinpot dictators quite regularly incite zealots to use intimidation and violence to keep them in power. It's more or less built into the concept, frankly.

  • "notifying people that no winner had been decided until a victor was declared by news outlets"

    What a sick joke. Way to add to the problem facebook.

  • Done more than any other company (Score:4, Funny)

    by t4eXanadu ( 143668 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @11:15PM (#60583810)

    ""We believe that we have done more than any other company over the past four years to help secure the integrity of elections," Mr. Rosen said"

    Took a page from the Trump playbook: I've done more in x than any other y. Except, you don't preface it with "believe" because that lacks credibility and authority. "Many people say...", or even better, just make it a confident declarative, "we have done...".

  • When is it a political ad? Looking at a page like George Takei it's clear it's used for political means and reads like a regular political ad.
  • Good move FB.

  • . . . is that we all lose.

    And people wonder why my preferred ticket is the Sweet Meteor of Death, with Cthuhlu as VP. . .

    Just end it, already. . . .

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