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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Warren responded to the Trump ad with a cheeky point: In an ad she has circulated over Facebook, she claims that "Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook just endorsed Donald Trump for re-election." Later in the ad, she acknowledges this is a falsehood, and contends that "what [Mark] Zuckerberg has done is given Donald Trump free rein to lie on his platform — and then to pay Facebook gobs of money to push out their lies to American voters."
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