Facebook considers having a conscience https://t.co/WV8XiS6qMQ

— Scott Galloway (@profgalloway) July 10, 2020

Folly. And protects incumbents but I reocgnize the desire to avoid the headache for non material revenue. https://t.co/C7PzKmXTHX

— Keith Rabois (@rabois) July 10, 2020

Facebook’s former security head implies this move would benefit Trump https://t.co/VN4naN02xL https://t.co/MtcY56qih9

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) July 10, 2020

Full story: Facebook is considering a ban on political ads in the days leading up to November's election. Could help cut down on the spread of misinfo, especially since FB doesn't fact-check political ads from candidates/campaigns https://t.co/CyvrCxziun

— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) July 10, 2020

More Friday News! Facebook considers banning political ads from its network after months of punishing pushback

Would be a huge about-face after Zuckerberg staunchly defended the position since late last yearhttps://t.co/EzB0f31m3E

— rat king (@MikeIsaac) July 10, 2020

How will it tell an ad from a pretend non-ad? https://t.co/KB94t9De6S

— menaka doshi (@menakadoshi) July 10, 2020

Think about Facebook as a seller of meat products. Some of its just fine, but much of it is tainted. The company knows some meat is bad, and there's no regulatory oversight, writes @karaswisher. https://t.co/DfpLShuM8G

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) July 11, 2020

To put a fine point on this: Under this proposal the President could use organic posts to suppress voting by mail (as he did today), but Democrats could not run ads encouraging people to return their mail ballots.https://t.co/3qN0Tx6f2N

— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) July 10, 2020

some interesting context, for those curious:

Facebook actually considered a similar thing -- folks told us it could be akin to a 72-hr pre-election blackout -- back in December when FB was under heat for Trump's ads. https://t.co/DrZONMv6lX

— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) July 10, 2020

Pros: Could cut down on *some* misinfo in the final days/hours before the election

Cons: Would pose a real challenge to “get out the vote” campaigns, as well as limit candidate reach if they are responding to breaking news/new information

— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) July 10, 2020

Based on what? Yes a lot of grassroot campaigns come from progressives and yes there are massive data harvesting conpanies on that side, too. Both sides need to come to grips with the harms of microtargeting + political advertising and accept the ban until real solutions. https://t.co/pRxWkWoWND

— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) July 10, 2020

Instead of stopping people from lying, they're just gonna stop all people from talking. https://t.co/IdpK1CzDxj

— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) July 10, 2020

Non-partisan organizations, voting groups and even many states themselves are spending many millions of dollars in Facebook ads to get out the vote this year.

Facebook banning ads this late in the game could really backfire: https://t.co/MhyLURXqA5

— Ryan McCarthy (@mccarthyryanj) July 10, 2020

The problem is not the ads… it’s the disinformation. x1000

This decision would disproportionately impact progressive, inurgent campaigns. But maybe that is the point. https://t.co/OcM1K85lvP

— Tim Tagaris (@ttagaris) July 10, 2020

This is a bad idea but it does show Facebook is beginning to understand the implications of giving politicians the green light to lie in paid ads

The weeks leading up to the election are going to be a catastrophe https://t.co/PVm6s4Jh4S

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) July 10, 2020

FB should repurpose them, reinventing the British party political broadcast rules for the internet era. https://t.co/SicmFflmcI

— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeFT) July 10, 2020

This would be an extraordinary u-turn but sounds quite likely https://t.co/XHT1VLuk1T

— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) July 10, 2020

.@Facebook claims to care about free expression but would rather restrict political speech altogether than take responsibility for curbing hate speech, voter suppression and disinformation. We have had clear demands for years. It's time to meet them. https://t.co/ZIo6WMgg4l

— Rashad Robinson (@rashadrobinson) July 10, 2020

This has been in the mix for a while, and folks were surprised the company didn’t embrace it earlier, since it is already done in Europe. But, for the record, when I asked FB ad boss Carolyn Everson about it onstage at Code Media last November, she said no way. https://t.co/JBH76LhEA2

— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) July 10, 2020

Less speech means more power for established gatekeepers. https://t.co/5JdK5oHzfi

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) July 10, 2020

This would be a mistake. Banning political ads would:
✅Silence the free speech of candidates, groups, & Americans
✅Give the corrupt & biased Mainstream Media a monopoly
✅Empower Silicon Valley billionaires & their biased censorship practiceshttps://t.co/2tP1B5AvOg

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 10, 2020

I'll say the same thing I did when Twitter made this move:

1) Political ads are a tiny part of FB's revenue and a huge PITA

2) Eliminating online political ads only benefits those with money, incumbency or the ability to get media coverage. Who does that sound like? https://t.co/PmpASmU1YL

— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) July 10, 2020

“Mr. Zuckerberg is serving up a rancid meal that he says he’s not comfortable cooking himself, even as his hands control every aspect of the operation.” Must-read truth-telling about Zuckerberg and Sandberg⁩ by ⁦@karaswisher⁩. https://t.co/6HE5gWgCtF

— Walt Mossberg (@waltmossberg) July 11, 2020

Hypothetically, if you wanted to be ~ excluded from the narrative ~ about the 2020 election without changing the core mechanics of your platform or wading into thorny politicized issues around organic distribution, this is probably what you'd do! https://t.co/P4EO2fNvEi

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) July 10, 2020

Imagine the things people will put out to try to make up for it with organic engagement https://t.co/XXihHL2LOw

— Kyle Russell (@kylebrussell) July 10, 2020

This would be easier than finding all the misleading ads/voter suppression in time for it to matter https://t.co/rIkgugE4I3

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) July 10, 2020

"Zuckerberg is serving up a rancid meal he says he’s not cooking himself, even as his hands control every aspect. I say to him and every executive at Facebook: You cannot hold on to such enormous power and avoid responsibility when things get tough." https://t.co/IRDe73TCDM

— Borzou Daragahi ?? (@borzou) July 11, 2020

Early congrats to the public sector advertising sales team at Google. https://t.co/rPzIVfzkqh

— Mark Bergen (@mhbergen) July 10, 2020

With the November election looming and as Facebook grapples with intensifying scrutiny over content posted to its platform, the core of a debate within the social media company is whether banning political ads would help or harm. https://t.co/02keaNPzSq

— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) July 11, 2020

NEW: Facebook is reportedly considering imposing a ban on political ads in the days leading up to the U.S. election in November.

This could limit some mis/disinformation, but at this point, it’s also just as likely to ruin last-minute GOTV efforts.https://t.co/LGtT6xfAuq

— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) July 10, 2020

1. The ads are not* the problem!
2. This would dramatically hamstring campaigns’ ability to communicate and fundraise in the home stretch. https://t.co/vbmi76SQ05

*or at least are a tiny crumb of the problem compared with mountains of organic misinfo

— Jenna Lowenstein (@just_jenna) July 10, 2020

Big if true, as they say https://t.co/P9YzApKXZb

— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) July 10, 2020

Facebook doesn’t fact-check ads from politicians or campaigns, a point of contention for many who say the policy means ads on the platform could be used to spread misinformation

The potential ban is still only being discussed and hasn’t yet been finalizedhttps://t.co/heHSQ87N7o

— Emma Kinery (@EmmaKinery) July 10, 2020

This really shouldn’t be controversial considering other countries (UK, Australia) have blackouts in place for TV/radio heading into the election. https://t.co/skoi0VgRdL

— Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) July 10, 2020

if Facebook wants to curb the spread of misinfo, they should... implement & enforce thoughtful policies designed to curb the spread of misinfo.

why, there are plenty of them in this excellent civil rights audit they commissioned:https://t.co/TslADiunyJ https://t.co/mygRSzz2K9

— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) July 10, 2020

While I've called for @Facebook to halt political ads until there are effective regulations for online ads, changing its tune this close to the election is also problematic. This is the kind of thing they should have done long ago - doing so now may just create more chaos. https://t.co/qrqR1vJ1bw

— Laura Rosenberger (@rosenbergerlm) July 10, 2020

This is akin to using a nuclear bomb to oust rodents and hurts the less well known pols and orgs: Facebook Considers Banning Political Ads Before US 2020 Election - Bloomberg https://t.co/B4VaRup0hm

— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) July 10, 2020

Whoa

*FACEBOOK CONSIDERS POLITICAL-AD BLACKOUT AHEAD OF U.S. ELECTION

— Carol Massar (@carolmassar) July 10, 2020

Just to be clear: This is a cop-out by @Facebook to avoid dealing with the very real problem of disinformation in their organic content.

This will hurt legitimate efforts to get out *correct* voting information to the people who need it. https://t.co/J1Vcly96qR

— Heather Reid (@hkreid) July 10, 2020

They should have done it a long time ago - not just possibly weeks ahead of election. Twitter and Google announced last year after three years of pressure. Here is FB getting shredded on their logic. Now off to watch panel on this exact topic! https://t.co/ecaV2xUD71 pic.twitter.com/67BDfKQRw8

— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) July 10, 2020

Interesting. Early voting starts 46 days before the election in some states so, uhhhh, that might be relevant. https://t.co/RZgsCPVtbZ

— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) July 10, 2020

NEW: Facebook is considering a ban on political ads on its social network in the days leading up to the U.S. election in November. No decision yet, but it’s being discussed, according to sources

— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) July 10, 2020

The argument from the head butcher is this: People should be free to eat rotten hamburger, even if it wreaks havoc on their gastrointestinal tract, & the seller of the meat should not be the one to tell them which meat is good and which is bad @karaswisher https://t.co/2UGdjMMulU

— Scott Galloway (@profgalloway) July 11, 2020

I agree with Alex on both of these counts: https://t.co/x7nMz2GPUI@facebook could limit targeting like @google did, but geotargeting across media types & platforms looks like a smart way forward to me. https://t.co/p8JdJEDS9V

— Alex Howard (@digiphile) July 10, 2020

I’m hearing that Google Adsense is seeing a lot of YouTube creators/brands requesting that their videos don’t show political ads, so seems they are becoming increasingly difficult to display https://t.co/lSOgilAQad

— Margi Murphy (@MargiMurphy) July 10, 2020

This is a great idea. An ad-free cooling off period before elections is something the Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age recommended.

Facebook Considers Political-Ad Blackout Ahead of U.S. Election https://t.co/OYSVt38wPb

— Stephen Stedman (@stephenjstedman) July 10, 2020

Political ads blackout just b/f the election won’t address real time voter misinfo and suppression that Facebook is leaving up even though it violates their policy, see e.g. Trump posts this morn containing lies about legal voting methods. https://t.co/N78DWHinw2

— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) July 10, 2020

Facebook Mulls Political-Ad Blackout Ahead Of U.S. Election.

This is good, they shouldn’t permit political advertising of any kind, anywhere - end of story. https://t.co/7Akwy6UbEp

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) July 10, 2020

BREAKING: FACEBOOK THINKS MAYBE IT SHOULDN'T LET THE KREMLIN ATTACK AMERICAN DEMOCRACY; PLANS TO GET BACK TO US SOON! ???? https://t.co/dQ40a7FRwu

— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) July 10, 2020

Well well @profgalloway I get one right: https://t.co/B4VaRup0hm

— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) July 10, 2020

Facebook is considering imposing a ban on political ads in the days leading up to the November election. A halt on ads could defend against misleading election-related content spreading as people prepare to vote. https://t.co/VBgRHMPs0Z

— Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) July 10, 2020

As a person trying to use every avenue possible to increase voter registration and turnout #Facebook deciding to ban political ads - as they define them - would be a devastating blow. Not just because of the platform's accuracy and reach for POC audiences https://t.co/zQKz3m5Z08

— Tatenda Musapatike (@TatendaCheryl) July 10, 2020

I am touched by their sincerity and sense of urgency:

“@Facebook⁩ Inc. is CONSIDERING imposing a ban on political ads on its platform in the DAYS LEADING UP TO the U.S. election in November, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking.” https://t.co/LsZZJIEJj0

— Lou Paskalis ? (@LouPas) July 11, 2020

But not to worry, Republicans, they'll still allow Russian bots to push racist propaganda on their personal accountshttps://t.co/AHW9rByRam

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) July 10, 2020

NEW: Facebook is reportedly considering imposing a ban on political ads in the days leading up to the U.S. election in November.

This could limit some mis/disinformation, but at this point, it’s also just as likely to ruin last-minute GOTV efforts.https://t.co/LGtT6xfAuq

— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) July 10, 2020

How to turn off political ads on Facebook (story by @rachelkaser) https://t.co/lcyZREosG4

— TNW (@thenextweb) July 11, 2020

How to turn off political ads on Facebook (story by @rachelkaser) https://t.co/z5uxc4dMBl

— TNW (@thenextweb) July 10, 2020

#Facebook may suspend all #PoliticalAds before #Election2020

Reportedly in response to the spread of #misinformation and #VoterSuppression on the #platform.⚡️@DigitalTrends @Paula_Piccard @tgravel @Dahl_Consult@gvalan @ipfconline1 @CEO_AISOMA @baski_LAhttps://t.co/yTpAp8vZEA

— Mark Quinn (@MarkQuinn_VO) July 10, 2020

Facebook may suspend all political ads before 2020 election
https://t.co/2sHmodWrrw

— Ted Corcoran (Red T Raccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) July 10, 2020

NEW: Facebook is considering blocking political ads ahead of the election in November, Bloomberg reports. https://t.co/LiU06Ntk5E

— Axios (@axios) July 10, 2020

Kurt’s full scoop here: https://t.co/isEb2otb2j
Twitter doesn’t have political ads, google already sold the YouTube Election Day homepage ads to Trump

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) July 10, 2020

Read @theaapc statement in response to Facebook considering a political ad blackout prior to the Nov. election ? https://t.co/x6DslimT8u

For context: https://t.co/adjtiHFQ6X

— The AAPC (@TheAAPC) July 11, 2020

How to turn off political ads in your Facebook feed.https://t.co/vdGfCktWxo

— CyberSec Chey (@chey_cobb) July 11, 2020

How to turn off political ads on Facebook https://t.co/XqMf9hO0oe #facebook pic.twitter.com/JHaVlOCs64

— Neal Schaffer (@NealSchaffer) July 11, 2020