More than 250 Facebook employees in a petition to CEO, Mark Zuckerberg have requested to alter the company’s policy on political advertising which allows politicians to post false ads on the platform.
The employees seemed disgruntled over the recent comments made by Zuckerberg, in which he seems reluctant to ban false political ads on the platform ahead of the 2020 Presidential election in the US.
The letter accessed by the New York Times reporter read, “Free speech and paid speech are not the same things. Misinformation affects all of us. Our current policies on fact-checking people in political office, or those running for office, are a threat to what FB stands for. We strongly object to this policy as it stands. It doesn’t protect voices, but instead allows politicians to weaponize our platform by targeting people who believe that content posted by political figures is trustworthy.”
The letter came into light after the latest decision taken by Facebook to give liberty to the politicians to frame advertisements as they like without fact-checking, relinquishing the previous rule of banning falsehoods in political ads.
Zuckerberg’s decision to let the politicians propagate their agenda on the grounds of free speech will lead to the unchecked distribution of political ads, as per the employees. The decision evoked outburst in the Capitol Hill as well as among the Democrats who opposed the decision vehemently alleging that it will impact the 2020 general elections in the States.
Earlier this week, Alexandria Ocasio, Congresswoman, in a heated conversation with CEO Zuckerberg asked him why the social media giant has not initiated any action against fake political ads even when it is against the spirit of free and fair elections.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress this week the company’s cryptocurrency. But in one exchange, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez asked when he first became aware of Cambridge Analytica and about lies in political advertising on Facebook: https://t.co/oqIJxksFQS pic.twitter.com/zJqpiXxNNM
— WIRED (@WIRED) October 26, 2019
Facebook defended its latest move saying that other tech companies have also chosen not to filter advertisement content on their platforms. “In a democracy, people should decide what is credible, not tech companies,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to the Associated Press. “That’s why – like other internet platforms and broadcasters – we don’t fact check ads from politicians.”
