Ted Cruz is sad very few people retweeted his plug for Facebook's political ad policy, blames Twitter


One of the joys and terrors of social media is the potential validation (or rejection) you may feel from the reaction to every opinion you post online. When your hot take gets a cool reception, you could reconsider your opinion. Or, as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) demonstrates, you could blame the social media company.
Twitter announced Wednesday that it will no longer accept paid political advertising on its platform. There was a distinct partisan split over Twitter's decision, with Democrats endorsing the views of Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Republicans cheering the laissez faire attitude toward political advertising adopted by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Maybe it's because conservatives argue — and a conservative Supreme Court majority had endorsed — that spending money is a form of constitutionally protected speech, while liberals are pushing to reduce the influence of money in politics.
Whatever the case, Cruz's position doesn't appear to be very popular. That, or Twitter is out to get him.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Quiz of The Week: 23 – 29 August
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Could robotic dogs help clear landmines?
Podcast Plus, what can we learn from a new approach to urban renewal? And how much power rests with political spouses?
-
Six major costs to cut as children go back to school
School supplies can be pricey but there are ways to keep costs down
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year