Facebook is allowing politicians to lie openly. It's time to regulate (Opinion) - CNN - 0 views
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At the center of the exchange was a tussle between Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has been pushing for the break-up of tech giants like Facebook and Google, and Sen. Kamala Harris, who pointedly asked whether Warren would join her in demanding that Twitter suspend President Donald Trump's account on the platform.
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This is a highly-charged and heavily politicized question, particularly for Democratic candidates. Last month, Facebook formalized a bold new policy that shocked many observers, announcing that the company would not seek to fact-check or censor politicians -- including in the context of paid political advertising, and even during an election season.Over the past few days, this decree has pushed US political advertising into something like the Wild West: President Donald Trump, who will likely face the Democratic candidate in next year's general election, has already taken the opportunity to spread political lies with no accountability.
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This new Facebook policy opens a frightening new world for political communication — and for national politics. It is now the case that leading politicians can openly spread political lies without repercussion. Indeed, the Trump campaign was already spreading other falsehoods through online advertising immediately before Facebook made its announcement — and as one might predict, most of those advertisements have not been removed from the platform.
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