5 ms·

We don't let blatantly false ads run on TV. Why is it so hard for Facebook or Twitter to do the same thing?

throwaway5752 7y ago
Because Facebook wants those ads. They productize the ability to run them, and it's revenue they want. They lie about or disguise their participation in the market and their policies policing that content. Facebook continues to take steps to get more of that revenue. It's not "hard", it's just just they don't want to do it.
- busterarm 7y ago
  I'm not sure that's it. Twitter was going to be sued if they allowed one party to advertise but not the other. This decision allows them to still behave with some partisanship via their moderation policy. Facebook is taking the safer position in this case, IMO, from a legal/regulatory perspective. It'll be interesting to see what shakes out.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
scarejunba 7y ago
False premise: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/oct/15/elizabeth-warren/phony-facebook-ad-warren-said-most-tv-networks-wil/ https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/oct...
catalogia 7y ago
> We don't let blatantly false ads run on TV. Did you cut the cable years ago? I think perhaps you've forgotten how bad some political ads on TV are.
malandrew 7y ago
One word: scale A tv channel has like 6 to 9 slots per 30 minutes of content and most of those slots have the same ads playing multiple times in a day. I would guess that there’s at most 1-2 hours of unique ad content for one channel per week to review. With user generated content and thousands of unique ad slots, using humans to verify is prohibitive.
partiallypro 7y ago
> We don't let blatantly false ads run on TV. Since when?
tracker1 7y ago
There's some pretty misleading TV ads out there, especially in more purple (contentious) districts. Senate race in Arizona, for example have been brutal, and abstracted by PACs.
toephu2 7y ago
Cause money makes the world go 'round?
jMyles 7y ago
There are a lot of baltantly false ads on TV, and have been for decades. Remember "this is your brain on drugs"? Or how about the "drugs fund terrorism" super bowl ads? That was a blatantly false campaign designed primarily not to discourage drug use, but to make it difficult for mainstream organizations and their people from supporting drug policy reform. Isn't every Volkswagen ad which touted fuel economy in their diesel vehicles essentially a blatantly false ad on the issue of climate change and carbon use? Many pharmaceutical ads have some blatantly false messaging, whether overt or not, and all of them carry the same political message: that the current system of regulation and intellectual property around drugs is healthy for people. TV is overrun by blatantly false ads that, once you think about it, have an unambiguously political component.
chillacy 7y ago
We actually do... https://www.thebalancecareers.com/should-tv-stations-ban-false-political-ads-3956480 https://www.thebalancecareers.com/should-tv-stations-ban-fal... For social media to start fact checking ads is actually a big change, but maybe the right thing to do, even if it's hard.

Because Facebook wants those ads. They productize the ability to run them, and it's revenue they want. They lie about or disguise their participation in the market and their policies policing that content. Facebook continues to take steps to get more of that revenue. It's not "hard", it's just just they don't want to do it.

busterarm 7y ago
I'm not sure that's it. Twitter was going to be sued if they allowed one party to advertise but not the other. This decision allows them to still behave with some partisanship via their moderation policy. Facebook is taking the safer position in this case, IMO, from a legal/regulatory perspective. It'll be interesting to see what shakes out.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

scarejunba 7y ago

False premise: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/oct/15/elizabeth-warren/phony-facebook-ad-warren-said-most-tv-networks-wil/ https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/oct...

catalogia 7y ago

> We don't let blatantly false ads run on TV. Did you cut the cable years ago? I think perhaps you've forgotten how bad some political ads on TV are.

malandrew 7y ago

One word: scale A tv channel has like 6 to 9 slots per 30 minutes of content and most of those slots have the same ads playing multiple times in a day. I would guess that there’s at most 1-2 hours of unique ad content for one channel per week to review. With user generated content and thousands of unique ad slots, using humans to verify is prohibitive.

partiallypro 7y ago

> We don't let blatantly false ads run on TV. Since when?

tracker1 7y ago

There's some pretty misleading TV ads out there, especially in more purple (contentious) districts. Senate race in Arizona, for example have been brutal, and abstracted by PACs.

toephu2 7y ago

Cause money makes the world go 'round?

jMyles 7y ago

There are a lot of baltantly false ads on TV, and have been for decades. Remember "this is your brain on drugs"? Or how about the "drugs fund terrorism" super bowl ads? That was a blatantly false campaign designed primarily not to discourage drug use, but to make it difficult for mainstream organizations and their people from supporting drug policy reform. Isn't every Volkswagen ad which touted fuel economy in their diesel vehicles essentially a blatantly false ad on the issue of climate change and carbon use? Many pharmaceutical ads have some blatantly false messaging, whether overt or not, and all of them carry the same political message: that the current system of regulation and intellectual property around drugs is healthy for people. TV is overrun by blatantly false ads that, once you think about it, have an unambiguously political component.

chillacy 7y ago

We actually do... https://www.thebalancecareers.com/should-tv-stations-ban-false-political-ads-3956480 https://www.thebalancecareers.com/should-tv-stations-ban-fal... For social media to start fact checking ads is actually a big change, but maybe the right thing to do, even if it's hard.