Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Social Media
  3. News

Zuckerberg says it’s not Facebook’s job to worry about misleading political ads

Allison Matyus
By

Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook won’t be banning political ads, even if they contain false information, during a speech at Georgetown University on Thursday.

The Facebook CEO argued that political advertising is more transparent on Facebook than anywhere else, and added that political ads are an essential form of free speech. “I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians,” he said.

“Given the sensitivity around political ads, I’ve considered whether we should stop allowing political ads altogether,” he added. “ From a business perspective, the controversy certainly isn’t worth the small part of our business they make up … but political ads can be an important part of voice, and banning political ads favors incumbents and whoever the media chooses to cover.” 

He said that Facebook does not fact-check political ads because he believes that people should see for themselves what politicians are saying. 

“I believe that people should decide for themselves what is credible, not tech companies,” Zuckerberg said. 

Even though Zuckerberg said political ads are welcome on the platform, Facebook added strict new changes to its ad policies in August that will require new disclosures for political ads. Advertisers that run political or social issues ads will have to show government credentials such as a tax-registered organization identification number or a government website domain. Other advertisers without these credentials will have to prove their identity by providing a phone number, business email, or a mail-deliverable address. 

Facebook’s approach to political ads has long been in the spotlight, but has become a major talking point of the Democratic presidential primary. Massachusetts senator and front-runner Elizabeth Warren took out an intentionally false ad on Facebook to draw attention to the issue. Zuckerberg has previously called Warren, who wants to break up the social media giant, an “existential threat” to Facebook.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 17: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg leads a conversation on free expression at Georgetown University on October 17, 2019 in Washington, DC. The event was hosted by the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy and its Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics). Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Facebook

The social media giant has received a lot of backlash for how ads and news articles were handled during the 2016 election, particularly in light of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and Zuckerberg defended his decisions as the 2020 election approaches.

“I’m committed to the values that we are discussing today, but we won’t always get it right, and I understand that people are concerned about how much control we have,” he said. “I don’t think we should be making such important decisions about speech on our own either.” 

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Social media scammers stole a huge amount of money in 2021
A person using a smartphone.

Scammers are increasingly turning to social media platforms, with fraud via popular services such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter netting criminals at least $770 million in 2021, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

But as few people tend to report such frauds due to feelings of embarrassment or shame, the 95,000 victims in the commission's research are estimated to represent only a "small fraction" of the total number of such cases, the FTC said.

Read more
T-Mobile says Scam Shield has blocked 21 billion scam calls in 2021
woman on phone.

T-Mobile's scam call screening service, Scam Shield, was officially launched in July 2020, and in its first full year of operation, Scam Shield has blocked a mind-boggling 21 billion scam calls, according to T-Mobile’s 2021 Scam and Robocall Report.
Scam callers take holidays, weekends off
The report offers some insights into the state of the scam call business. Social Security phishing scams, once the most common type of scam call, comprised only 11% of scam call volume. Fake vehicle warranty renewals were the most common type, accounting for 51% of all scam calls. These scams often include information about your vehicle to make them seem more legitimate, according to a Federal Communications Commission consumer report.

If scam calls seem like they’re out of control, the time of year may have something to do with that. According to T-Mobile, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas have the highest volume of scam calls, but call volume drops sharply after December 23. In addition to taking holidays, scam callers also take weekends off, leading to an 85% drop in call volume.

Read more
Microsoft faces antitrust investigations over its $19.7 billion Nuance purchase
Microsoft signage at the Meridian Building (formerly CompuWare) in Detroit, Michigan.

Microsoft could be in some trouble over its April 2021 $19.7 billion purchase of Nuance Communications -- which specializes in artificial intelligence and speech transcription, especially in U.S. hospitals. That's according to Reuters, which obtained a questionnaire showing that the European Union's antitrust regulator has asked customers and Nuance competitors to draw up a list of concerns over the deal.

At the center of the antitrust issue is whether Microsoft might end up favoring Nuance over other services from Phillips and 3M Co. There's also the possibility of Microsoft forcing Nuance to use Microsoft's Office suite of products. Microsoft and Nuance did not comment on the report, but the potential antitrust investigation could be the reason for a delay in the final parts of Microsoft's acquisition.

Read more