{"id":41037,"date":"2020-09-05T12:11:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=41037"},"modified":"2020-09-05T12:11:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:11:25","slug":"another-reason-to-unplug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2020\/09\/05\/another-reason-to-unplug\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Reason to Unplug!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve suggested that you dump Fakebook, we could all retire in comfort.  I trust you know that Fakebook was a major vehicle for distributing Republican lies from Russian bots to help Trump* steal the White House in 2016.  Fakebook’s claims that they didn’t know those accounts were Russian fall flat, because Russia paid the bill for them in Rubles.  Fakebook now has a new way to assist Trump this year.  That’s another reason to unplug!<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"0905Fakebook\" <\/p>\n

Facebook this week said it would bar political ads in the seven days before the presidential election. That could prevent dirty tricks or an \u201cOctober surprise\u201d and give watchdogs time to fact-check statements. But rather than responding with glee, election officials say the move leaves them worried. <\/p>\n

Included in the ban are ads purchased by election officials \u2014 secretaries of state and boards of elections \u2014 who use Facebook to inform voters about how voting will work. The move effectively removes a key communication channel just as millions of Americans will begin to navigate a voting process different from any they\u2019ve experienced before<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery state\u2019s elections office has a very small communications office that is doing everything that they can to get the word out about the election,\u201d said Gabe Rosenberg, the communications director for Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill (who is not related to this reporter). \u201cThis just makes it a little bit harder, for, as far as I can see, no real gain.\u201d <\/p>\n

The rule change was announced Thursday in a Facebook post  [Fakebook delinked<\/em>] by the site\u2019s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Previously, Facebook\u2019s rules [Fakebook delinked<\/em>] for fact-checking certain campaign ads but not others have come under fire. Taken together, they demonstrate how Facebook has become an integral piece of the American democratic process \u2014 but one that is controlled by the decisions of a private corporation, which can set rules in its own interest<\/strong>…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Raw Story<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

NYT columnist on Facebook’s new rules to ban new political ads one week before the election<\/a><\/p>\n