Twitter Steals The Narrative From Facebook
Around this time, four years ago, Russian interests were actively in the processing of using bots, advertising, and targeted messaging in order to sway the US election in ways that harmed their democracy and advocated candidates they believed would work in their interests. The fact that Donald Trump was elected as the President of the United States at the end of that election cycle is testimony to the success of Russian efforts.
In light of that election which was bolstered by illegal Russian influence, Google, Facebook, and Twitter all faced a massive backlash. No company has faced a worse backlash than Facebook, though. The revelations that they turned a blind eye as Cambridge Analytica misused user data despite being aware of how it was misused were just the beginning. The platform was also used to advertise, both officially and unofficially, content that fanned the flames of intolerance and abuse between groups. During that election cycle, electioneering changed forever globally. Across platforms steps were taken in order to make political advertising more prominently labeled with advertiser information, thus making users aware of the alignment of the source of that information.
Twitter, too, faced some criticism, largely on account of being the platform of choice for Donald Trump. Trump has been known to actively lie and misrepresent facts via his twitter handle. He’s threatened war and severe consequences for nations and individuals who do not back his line. Critics have called him ‘unhinged’ and for the platforms to step up and remove his messages which are proven untrue or which incite violence. The platforms have refused, saying that it is in the public interest that the public be the arbiters of the tastefulness of these messages, not them.
Digital Political Advertising
As a regular business, these platforms will heavily regulate the kind of messages that they will allow to be advertised. In an effort to not be seen to be partisan, political advertising has actually been freed from the requirement of being factual. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder-CEO of Facebook, has been at the centre of the political advertising storm. He has been called before the United States Congress to testify as to why they allow such advertising. Defending Facebook’s position, he claimed that censoring these ads would be a blow to free speech.
Critics have also argued that the platform should simply disallow all political advertising till they can fix the problem of misinformation and voter manipulation. Given how completely the platform was manipulated during the prior election cycle, they say that it is best that Facebook ‘sit this one out’. By choosing to continue to profit on such polarising messaging, Facebook has made clear that they choose profits over a free and fair election.
Democratic Presidential Candidate, Elizabeth Warren, took the most audacious step in bringing attention to the issue of how Facebook can be manipulated in a misinformation campaign. She targeted Zuckerberg in an ad on Facebook which attributed to him, a false message that he had just endorsed Donald Trump. Zuckerberg was left defending his original position, but was left flummoxed by her move. It didn’t help that the message traveled farther than the audience targeted by the advertisement itself as the story was widely reported and debated across mainstream media.
Twitter Takes The High Ground
In this context, Twitter’s move to ban political advertising globally is significant. Yesterday, Twitter founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, announced the move. He argued that political messaging should be earned on the merits of the message. By forgoing a political advertising, not just in the United States, but globally, Twitter’s revenues will take a big hit. However, the moral high ground that they have taken may just lead to more users flocking to their platform having abandoned Facebook for its morally bankrupt positions.
Only time will tell how history views this chapter of modern democracy. However, be sure that this move will be seen as significant one.
