Twitter pulls the plug on political ads, Facebook not keen to follow suit

Internet advertising is “incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions”, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said early on Thursday while discontinuing political ads from the microblogging platform globally.

Dorsey said the company would share the final policy by November 15, and will start enforcing it from November 22, to provide advertisers a notice period.
Political ads on social media platforms have been a growing cause for concern globally, especially since reports of foreign interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections surfaced. India also cracked down heavily on advertising content placed by political parties in the run up to the General Elections this year.
Vipul Mudgal, director at advocacy firm Common Cause, said once Twitter releases the full policy, things would become clearer. “I want to see if their policy is US oriented and how much of it applies to countries like India. I say so because the Indian election scene is more complicated. There are proxy ads and surreptitious ads, which political parties place indirectly. There is also a huge role of the black money in our elections. Even (state and central) governments place laudatory and self congratulatory ads in the name of ‘achievements’ or things like malaria eradication or Swachh Bharat which are aimed at promoting one party or one leader,” he said. Read More

Article Source -> Business Standard