Meta will allow political ads on its platforms to question the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election, part of a rollback in election-related content moderation among major social media platforms over the past year ahead of the 2024 US presidential contest.

The policy means that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be able to directly profit from political ads that boost false claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. While the company will allow political advertisements to claim that past elections, including the 2020 presidential race, were rigged, it will prohibit those that “call into question the legitimacy of an upcoming or ongoing election.”

The change is part of a year-old policy update but has not been widely reported. The Wall Street Journal reported Meta’s ads policy change earlier Wednesday.

  • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    There seems to be a lot of companies going the CBS route when it comes to stuff like this, except they’re just not willing to admit it publicly. The underlying point is still the same though: “Yeah, we tried doing the whole ‘responsible civic duty’ thing, then we realized that allowing morons to spread bullshit makes us a fuckton more cash, so we’re going with that.”

  • bquintb
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Quitting Facebook was one of the best decisions I ever made for my mental health.

    • HurlingDurling@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      I actually got my mom to delete her Facebook account and stay out of it for good. I can already see a change in her attitude in life.

    • SSUPII@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I got back to Facebook to try Marketplace, found out how bad the layout is and how I felt I was gonna get scammed any day, then logged out to resume the slumber in wich my account has been since 2016

  • Nobody@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    1 year ago

    If you have a Facebook account that you check regularly, you are supporting this shit. Delete it and walk away. It’s evil.

  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    They also allow bigotry as long as you’re “nice” about it. I got in trouble multiple times for being mean to people who were being homophobic on Facebook. Then they permabanned me for trolling trump supporters.

    • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Something something “…more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice”

  • appel@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    24
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is why it’s up to Congress to regulate this stuff. You cannot expect companies to self-police, because it is not in their self interest to do so.

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    In case anyone believed Zuckerberg for a second when he pretended to have learned his lesson and would improve anything as a result of the many atrocities his company has profited from aggravating.

    He’s like the dictator of a rogue nation except much worse since Meta has more power and fewer restrictions than any country.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      If anyone is still on Facebook, you’re part of the reason why he’s doing this. They make their money from advertisers and your data. If people leave, it will be as profitable as Xitter.

    • UnknownHandsome@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      We continue to allow shitbirds to shit on us. These guys rule the world and instead of turning them into candles we continue to let them darken our world.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The policy means that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be able to directly profit from political ads that boost false claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

    Meta’s broader electoral misinformation policy continues to prohibit content that could interfere with people’s ability to participate in voting or the census, such as false claims about the timing of an election, according to the company.

    YouTube said in June that it would no longer remove content featuring false claims that the 2020 US presidential election was stolen, reversing a policy instituted more than two years ago.

    YouTube’s ad policy continues to prohibit claims that are “demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process.”

    Separately, Meta said earlier this month that it would require political advertisers around the world to disclose any use of artificial intelligence in their ads, starting next year, as part of a broader move to limit “deepfakes” and other digitally altered misleading content.

    It also said it would prohibit political advertisers from using the company’s new, artificial intelligence tools that help brands generate text, backgrounds and other marketing content.


    The original article contains 621 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!