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      Twitter lifts political ad ban designed to stop misinformation spread

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 4 January, 2023 - 17:41 · 1 minute

    Twitter lifts political ad ban designed to stop misinformation spread

    Enlarge (credit: SOPA Images / Contributor | LightRocket )

    Online advertising on social platforms is changing. Google and Meta no longer hold majority control over advertising dollars, according to The Wall Street Journal , with Amazon and TikTok cutting in to sway advertisers to other platforms. Twitter is also hungry to redirect ad dollars to its platform, as it announced yesterday that it would be “relaxing” its political ads policy and allowing more “cause-based” ads. The company is also planning to expand to allow other forms of political advertising “in the coming weeks.”

    Promising to share more details soon, the @TwitterSafety account tweeted Tuesday that from now on, Twitter’s goal is to align its advertising policy “with that of TV and other media outlets.” It’s unclear what exactly that means on a platform like Twitter, but the Federal Communications Commission specifies that it works to restrict censorship and ensure equal opportunity for political advertisers. This aligns somewhat with Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s stated "free speech absolutist" position. Twitter could also be looking to emulate the FCC to diminish the company's responsibility to review or ensure the accuracy of all political ad content.

    Twitter’s recent policy change reverses a decision the platform made in 2019 to ban political ads to limit misinformation spread. That 2019 ban included exceptions for some cause-based advertising, where advertisers were permitted to conduct some microtargeting of Twitter users based on limited geographic location information, keywords, and interests. Notably, advertisers were not allowed to target audiences based on political affiliation like “conservative” or “liberal.” Under these prior rules, Twitter-certified cause-based advertisers approved to promote content created to “educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity.”

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      Hulu’s “unwritten policy” on political censorship sparks backlash

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 26 July, 2022 - 18:17 · 1 minute

    Hulu’s “unwritten policy” on political censorship sparks backlash

    Enlarge (credit: SOPA Images / Contributor | LightRocket )

    Last year, Hulu raised its ad-supported subscriptions by a dollar, shortly after prompting subscribers to submit more feedback on ads. Since 2017, vocal members in the Hulu community have complained about seeing the same political ads “1,000 times,” with some claiming they were repeatedly served ads from Republicans that spread misinformation. After President Biden was elected in 2020, others complained about “Democratic propaganda.” Many suggested Hulu wasn’t the place for political ads, with one post pitching a new Hulu policy of “no political ads” getting more than 2,000 votes.

    At least one subscriber in the forum claimed that regardless of content, Hulu was financially motivated to sell political ads, but this week Hulu has taken actions that seemingly respond to subscribers' longtime complaints—by blocking more political ads. Democrats have claimed that Hulu blocked political ads discussing key party issues like abortion rights, gun control, and climate change, sparking an entirely different backlash and a Twitter rally cry to #BoycottHulu.

    “Hulu’s censorship of the truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country,” executive directors of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association told The Washington Post in a statement. “Voters have the right to know the facts about MAGA Republicans’ agenda on issues like abortion—and Hulu is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP record or denying these issues from even being discussed.”

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