Why Twitter is banning political advertising
Chief executive Jack Dorsey says ‘political message reach should be earned, not bought’
Twitter is to ban all political advertising worldwide because of the risk from highly targeted ads, misleading information and what it calls “deep fakes”.
Posting on the social media website, CEO Jack Dorsey said he was taking the move because “political message reach should be earned, not bought”.
Explaining that “reach” was what a happens when “people decide to follow an account or retweet”, he said that “paying for reach removes that decision” and the decision “should not be compromised by money”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He continued: “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics.”
Twitter’s rival, Facebook, has recently ruled out a ban on political advertising. Reacting to the news, founder Mark Zuckerberg said: “In a democracy, I don’t think it’s right for private companies to censor politicians or the news.”
The Guardian says a segment of Dorsey’s statement appeared to “mock” Zuckerberg’s recent attempts to justify its decisions to exempt posts by politicians from its third-party fact-checking.
“It’s not credible for us to say: ‘We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad... well... they can say whatever they want!’” wrote the Twitter boss, accompanying the tweet with a wink emoji.
The Times agrees that the statement “has been perceived as Twitter attempting to get one over on its larger rival, Facebook”.
News of the ban has divided opinion. Donald Trump’s campaign team denounced the decision as “very dumb” and “yet another attempt to silence conservatives”.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues for £6–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The statement from Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale also said Twitter’s stockholders would suffer because the firm would lose “hundreds of millions of dollars of potential revenue”. Twitter’s shares were down 3% in after-hours trading.
However, Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, welcomed Twitter’s ban and challenged Facebook to change its mind and follow suit.
The BBC says that in the forthcoming US election campaign the teams will spend about $6bn (£4.6bn) on advertising but most of it will go on TV ads, with about 20% put into digital ads.
Carl Miller, a social media analyst, said it was “one of the first times a tech giant has stepped back in concern for the enormous disruptions they’re doing to the institutions that don’t move as quickly as them”.
J Nathan Matias, an assistant professor of communication at Cornell University, warned that it is “very hard to define ‘political’ things from non-political discourse” and encouraged Twitter to ensure its policies are not “too loose or their enforcement too clumsy”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The history of Donald Trump's election conspiracy theories
The Explainer How the 2024 Republican nominee has consistently stoked baseless fears of a stolen election
By David Faris Published
-
Two ancient cities have been discovered along the Silk Road
Under the radar The discovery changed what was known about the old trade route
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
'People shouldn't have to share the road with impaired drivers'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Pakistan 'gaslighting' citizens over sudden internet slowdown
Under the Radar Government accused of 'throttling the internet' and spooking businesses with China-style firewall, but minister blames widespread use of VPNs
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Threads turns one: where does the Twitter rival stand?
In the Spotlight Although Threads is reporting 175 million active monthly users, it has failed to eclipse X as a meaningful cultural force
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
Is the AI bubble deflating?
Today's Big Question Growing skepticism and high costs prompt reconsideration
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How social media is limiting political content
The Explainer Critics say Meta's 'extraordinary move' to have less politics in users' feeds could be 'actively muzzling civic action'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Elon Musk's most controversial moments
In Depth The business mogul has a long history in the hot seat
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Last updated
-
Elon Musk's 'frivolous' but precedent-setting free speech fight with Media Matters
Talking Point The lawsuit is just the latest in Musk's ongoing tension with social media watchdogs
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Twitter's year of Elon Musk: what happens next?
Why Everyone's Talking About 'Your platform is dying', says one commentator, but new CEO is aiming for profitability next year
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Turns out Facebook isn't as polarizing as previously thought
Talking Point New studies show that, contrary to prior belief, the algorithm has little effect on driving polarization
By Theara Coleman Published