This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On October 30, 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company would be banning all political advertisements on its platform, effective November 22. This decision was made in an effort to reduce the risks posed by internet ads to civil discourse.
According to Dorsey, internet advertising poses significant risks to politics as it can influence and affect millions of lives. He believes that the ban on political advertisements will help to reduce the risk of misinformation and deep fakes, which can be used to manipulate public opinion.
Facebook, on the other hand, has decided to keep airing political advertisements, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg arguing that ads are an essential part of voice. Zuckerberg believes that it is not right for private companies to censor politicians or the news, and that it is hard to define where to draw the line.
Twitter's decision to ban political advertisements has been met with mixed reactions, with some arguing that it is a necessary step to protect democracy and others arguing that it is a form of censorship.
It's worth noting that political advertisements only make a small part of revenues for both companies, with Facebook anticipating that they will only contribute to 0.5% of its next year's revenues.
