The policy by Facebook of letting politicians to operate fake ads will be tested in short order. Media has verified that the social media firm will not fact-check ads by the candidates in the weeks before the UK election in December 2019. It will ban candidates from connecting to pro-violence or debunked content, and will still probe groups such as Leave.EU, but users will have to depend on skepticism further than that.
That unwillingness to test ads is resulting in concerns, comprising from those probing Facebook. MP Damian Collins, the chief of parliamentary hearings investigating Facebook’s methods, claimed to the media that users should not be permitted to distribute fake claims “just due to the fact that they are paying” for it. He was also let down by ex-UK politician Nick Clegg, disputing that he had not made a “positive difference” as Global Affairs VP of Facebook.
It is not sure that policy by Facebook will make issues, particularly when the election is taking place on short notice. If there is proof that false ads by politicians played a role, although, it can elevate heat on Facebook to change its policies before the 2020 US elections.
On a related note, Russia is once again meddling with internet behemoths over their political ads. Roskomnadzor (communications regulator) has blamed Google and Facebook of permitting political ads in September during regional elections in spite of being a prohibition on operating ads both the day before and during the vote. Officials allegedlyalerted the firms a few days earlier, but they allegedly popped up all over the websites, comprising on YouTube.
Roskomnadzor did not utter words. It claimed the ads were “intolerable” and that they can be considered as “meddling in the sovereign affairs” of the nation. There was no citation of punitive measure, however.
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