A recent announcement by Twitter has got the world surging with discussions. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, announced their decision to ban all forms of political advertisements on the platform. He also stated the belief behind this move which points out that “political message reach should be earned, not bought”.
Jack Dorsey made this announcement through a tweet and a thread of explanations followed this tweet. He has stated various reasons to explain the importance of this decision.
Weāve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasonsā¦????
ā jack ???????????? (@jack) October 30, 2019
The Distinction:
To make this decision forward, Twitter will now need to create a clear distinction between what constitutes a political advertisement and what doesn’t. Ā For now, Vijaya Gadde, Chief Legal Officer for Twitter has announced the following criteria:
hi – here’s our current definition:
1/ Ads that refer to an election or a candidate, or
2/ Ads that advocate for or against legislative issues of national importance (such as: climate change, healthcare, immigration, national security, taxes)ā Vijaya Gadde (@vijaya) October 30, 2019
The Impact On Other Platforms:
Twitter’s decision to ban political advertisements will have a major impact on Facebook. Given the history of data breaches and privacy blunders of Facebook, Isn’t it ironic of Ā Mark Zuckerberg to try and justify the spread of misinformation through political advertisements by forcing an emphasis on Facebook’s mission to promote free speech? He specifies that Facebook would not block false political advertising and that it will no longer fact-check political ads. Twitter’s big step creates pressure on Facebook to relook at their policies.
The Consequences:
This decision is a very bold move by Twitter. Voting for a candidate and choosing the Government should be an unbiased opinion for the citizens. Jack Dorsey has clearly stated the tensions around ramifications caused due to paying for political reach.
Twitter will lay out its final policy on the 15th of November. Along with a ban on political ads, they are also sure of cutting down issue ads. Ā It will include ads that refer to an election or a “clearly identified candidateā and āads that advocate for legislative issues of national importance.ā Several discussions and any implementation will surely create issues for the clear clarity and distinction of content. Controversies will surround the discussion around what clearly is to be accepted as reasonable political content. Ā According to the verge “Even the best-written policies are difficult to apply across a site with hundreds of millions of users.”
Do you feel Twitter has made the right move?
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