Facebook to Ban Political Ads

Facebook is considering to ban political advertising on its platform in the days leading up to the US presidential election in November.

According to Bloomberg, the potential ban is still only being discussed and hasn’t yet been finalized, said the people, who asked not to be named talking about internal policies. A halt on ads could defend against misleading election-related content spreading as people prepare to vote.

Also, there are concerns that an ad blackout may hurt get out the vote campaigns, or limit a candidate’s ability to respond widely to breaking news or new information.

Political Ads

Later, Facebook has come under intense criticism for its policy of allowing politicians to run false ads. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has strenuously defended his company's stance and argued last fall that banning political ads would not be a good idea.

In addition Facebook shares briefly dipped after Bloomberg‘s report, before recovering to close Friday at a record $245.07. Hundreds of advertisers are currently boycotting Facebook’s marketing products as part of a protest against its policies.

According to Democratic political operatives were quick to criticize the idea of a temporary ad blackout. Rob Flaherty, digital director for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign, suggested the potential ad ban was not a sufficient solution to misinformation.

Under this proposal the President could use organic posts to suppress voting by mail, but Democrats could not run ads encouraging people to return their mail ballots.

Noteworthy, the social-media giant Facebook invested $5.7 billion to acquire 10% of Jio Platforms, which owns India’s largest telecom operator.

The deal could reduce the company’s net debt by 12%, reducing leverage from Reliance Jio Infocomm, given the collapse in oil prices that casts doubt on the company’s assets in the refinery business, controlled by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. Meantime, Reliance’s shares rose 10% on Wednesday following the announcement.

Through this acquisition, Facebook can have a powerful ally in India at a time when the government has turned back on foreign tech companies.

The acquisition can also help the US tech-giant bring more revenues from India through telecommunications and e-commerce businesses. India, which has more than 400 million WhatsApp users could help Facebook expand its business at a time when the social network platform is banned in China.

It is noteworthy that Facebook’s own plan to provide free internet in India “Free Basics” was blocked by regulators in the same year.