Twitter to End Paid Political Advertising [Updated]
[guest post by JVW]
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced moments ago that his company will no longer accept paid political advertisements. The link takes you to his announcement on Twitter. For those who don’t want to go there, and because his announcement comes in a multi-part Tweet stream, I’ll attach screen-shots of his Tweets.
I can’t wait to hear what those “few exceptions” are. Start the countdown until progressives start complaining that this is an unfair advantage for our Twitter-obsessed President. This new policy seems to indicate that the bipartisan carping at social media outlets is starting to have an effect.
UPDATE: Naturally Team Trump is starting to kvetch, even though this probably works to their advantage.
– JVW
Look for the new sort of voter registration ads coming our way: “Register to vote to stop the racist, sexist, xenophobic President from despoiling our planet and starting a nuclear war!” “Register to vote to prevent the modern communists from forcing your kid to attend Drag Queen Story Hour!” “Register to vote in order to vote yourself a whole bunch of freebies that will be extracted from the greedy capitalist pigs!”
JVW (54fd0b) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:26 pmAnd so begins the pushback:
James Hasson, @JamesHasson20
JVW (54fd0b) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:29 pmI’m going to guess that pro-life ads will get nixed as “issue ads” but somehow Planned Parenthood ads about abortion will be permitted as “healthcare information” or something.
1:21 PM · Oct 30, 2019
I’m going to guess that anti-gun ads will get nixed as “issue ads” but somehow NRA ads about guns will be permitted as “sporting information” or something.
Dave (9797c1) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:38 pmMy first reaction was a more generalized version of Hasson’s tweet. Who decides what’s an issue?
I do infer from Jack’s tweets that any ad that is posted via a Twitter account and spread via other Twitter accounts will be allowed. Viva los bots!
kishnevi (845597) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:38 pmThey would be commercial ads. I think Planned Parenthood charges money.
Now you could sell an anti-abortion book or article. Even knowing you would lose money on it. even if all you wanted to get across was the ad.
What about fundraising ads?
Sammy Finkelman (102c75) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:44 pmAh, but they’ll be a “FEW EXCEPTIONS” Of course. Like Left-wing ads to register D voters. And some “others” – that we’ll find about later. Look for all the Democrat/Liberals ads to be labeled “Non-political” while all the R ones, especially Trump’s to be “POLITICAL”
rcocean (1a839e) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:50 pmAnd so nice of jack, on behalf of the stockholders, to turn away all that $$. I’m sure they all agree on their reduced stock price based on reduced earnings.
Noble Jack Dorsey.
rcocean (1a839e) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:52 pmYour move, Facebook.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:52 pmPolitical Ads will work like hate speech. Don’t like Christians, Southerners, or white man. Well hey that’s Ok. But then there’s hate speech:
Don’t like women? that’s sexism. Don’t like Muslims? hate speech. Don’t like blacks? Racism. All banned. We can’t have “hate”. except towards men, native born Americans, whites, or the other unprotected classes.
rcocean (1a839e) — 10/30/2019 @ 1:55 pmLike Left-wing ads to register D voters
Except those ads (at least all the ones I have seen) are superficially non-partisan. It’s the pattern of the targeting of the ads that shows the partisan bias, if any. So an account that follows leftwing tweeters will be targeted, and an account that follows rightwing tweeters won’t.
kishnevi (845597) — 10/30/2019 @ 2:05 pm@10. The Brits do it better: 90 day campaigns and done.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/30/2019 @ 2:08 pm2020 getting closer and closer:
“On Monday evening, Sabo, the conservative street artist who is mostly known for his street posters that randomly pop up in California, reported on his Facebook page that he has now been kicked off of PayPal. “Today Paypal canceled my account with all of my money in it,” he announced. “They are holding my funds for the next 6 months”………….
…………Sabo insists in his Facebook post that he will keep fighting to be able to earn a living. “We’ll find an alternative way to generate income and I’m sure they will work to hit that as well. And then we’ll find another.” He also said he expected this would happen. “2020 is right around the corner and they are doing everything they can to silence our side. At least they finally did it so now I can move on.”“
https://pjmedia.com/trending/paypal-de-platforms-conservative-street-artist-sabo-holds-his-funds-for-six-months/
harkin (337580) — 10/30/2019 @ 2:27 pm_
PayPal was the brainchild of libertarian
JVW (54fd0b) — 10/30/2019 @ 2:58 pmgadflyactivist Peter Thiel, so I find it completely odd that they would target Sabo in this way.The complaints about bias may be having an effect but 1) suppressing all ads does not address bias, 2 suppressing all ads diminishes the power of groups, whether corporate or grass-roots, 3) it removes the counterpoint to any bias inherent in what individuals are allowed to say. and 4) it does not touch upon any bias in filtering of tweets.
Kevin M (19357e) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:01 pm“healthcare information” or something.
Education. You gotta problem with education?
Similarly for global warming, immigration or other things that are controversial due to uninformed or uneducated people.
Kevin M (19357e) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:03 pmThe Brits do it better: 90 day campaigns and done.
And in Canada, ads cannot be placed by just anyone. If Tweedledum and Tweedledee don’t want to talk about some scandal, it is illegal for Dudley Doright to take out an ad exposing the thing.
Kevin M (19357e) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:06 pmUPDATE: Naturally Team Trump is starting to kvetch, even though this probably works to their advantage.
JVW (54fd0b) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:08 pmSo, the right should run some ads, like:
“Do you pay taxes, but aren’t registered to vote? You must LIKE paying taxes then.
Register to vote at https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote“
Kevin M (19357e) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:10 pm@13 It looks like he left PayPal in 2002. I don’t think the libertarian aspect of PayPal ever materialized even though some of the founders did have those tendencies.
frosty (0bf243) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:11 pmNaturally Team Trump is starting to kvetch
Are their knees jerking?
Kevin M (19357e) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:11 pmIt looks like he left PayPal in 2002.
If by “left” you mean “sold to Ebay and cashed out”, then yes. In 2004 he bought 10% of Facebook, the dummy.
Kevin M (19357e) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:15 pmDoes this mean they’ll be banning CNN?
Edoc118 (e5163f) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:28 pmI don’t get what the big deal about social media platforms is. I don’t use Twitter, and I use Facebook quite a bit differently than their target audience. Politicians have been lying in radio and television ads for decades, and courts have basically held that they can do so. Why should FaceTwitterBookInstaSocialGram be any different?
Dorsey is making this move now because he believes it will negatively impact the Twitter brand, and thus his platform. Zuckerberg is calculating that it won’t harm Facebook enough to make a material difference. Don’t let these moguls fool you into believing they’re doing what’s right.
Gryph (08c844) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:28 pm@17 I’m not sure it works to anyone’s advantage. This will just devolve into each side claiming more bias. And both sides will be correct.
frosty (0bf243) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:32 pmSimplify your lives:
Don’t.
Use.
Twitter.
“Serenity now.”
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/30/2019 @ 3:46 pmOf course team trump and such will complain. Much of modern gop politics is based a sense of persecution. Pity us poor white men. Woe is us.
Time123 (bbe7b9) — 10/30/2019 @ 4:00 pmJust read the comments. If I wanted to do a parody it would be #9
Priceless.
Time123 (bbe7b9) — 10/30/2019 @ 4:02 pmMaga hat owner, everybody. Vote for Trump and you’re ‘fixing’ this.
Dustin (861237) — 10/30/2019 @ 4:10 pmProbably, maybe, probably. All together, Yes.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 10/30/2019 @ 4:18 pmThis isn’t really going to change anything other than the size of the echo-chamber. The NRA will put their ad graphic onto their twitter account and people who are subscribed to them will re-tweet it and so on. The same will happen with planned parenthood or whathaveyou on the liberal side. And most people will be happier because they will only see ads from their own side.
Nic (896fdf) — 10/30/2019 @ 4:47 pmYeah, Team Trump is complaining – but who cares? Leftists and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey LOVE all those OTHER Republicans. If Mittens or Sasse or Flake would run in 2024, why Jack would stop being a liberal Democrat and support them!
What’s the difference between a Never Trumper “Conservative” and a liberal democrat? Ida Know. you tell me.
rcocean (1a839e) — 10/30/2019 @ 5:09 pmAnd that’s how democracy dies in darkness. How will we ever elect anyone to any office again without Twitter ads?
nk (dbc370) — 10/30/2019 @ 5:10 pm@31 learn to code and make your own site.
Time123 (d54166) — 10/30/2019 @ 5:22 pm@33 There are already alternatives but is make your own site and embrace the bias a good solution to bias?
frosty (f27e97) — 10/30/2019 @ 5:57 pmsomebody is not a fan of free speech guys.
wonder why
Dustin (861237) — 10/30/2019 @ 6:09 pmHere are a few differences:
A Never Trumper Conservative (NTC) is appalled at the thought of a President of either party boasting about grabbing women by their genitals; a liberal democrat is only appalled at the thought of a Republican President doing that.
A NTC is angry that President Trump failed to keep his word about getting rid of Obamacare; a liberal democrat is ecstatic about it.
A NTC is angry about a $1.4T deficit and the bloated government that comes from it; a liberal democrat rejoices in a bigger government, and is upset about deficits only when Republicans create them.
A NTC is embarrassed by the current President’s behavior on the world stage because it makes America look bad; a liberal democrat applauds it because it makes Republicans look so bad.
I’m sure there are a few more differences, those are just a starting point.
Chuck Bartowski (229571) — 10/30/2019 @ 6:16 pm@36 about half of those are incorrect statement of liberal positions.
A lib dem is appalled about the grabbing by the genitals if there is no consent involved, if there is consent, they don’t care.
The NTC and the lib dem actually hold the same position on being appalled about Trump on the world stage because it makes America look bad.
OTHOH, they are tickled to applaud Trump’s behavior at home (and certain legislators defense of that behavior) because it makes the Republicans look bad.
Nic (896fdf) — 10/30/2019 @ 6:39 pmHey Frosty, you’re actually raising a good point, and I know you mean the question in in a sincere way so I’ll try to respond honestly.
I look at it like this.
The barrier to entry on the internet is low. I can create my own blog in about 10 minutes and get going from there.
Getting people to pay attention to what you have to say, and use your plat form is hard. (My theoretical blog would be very well designed and completely ignored btw)
Part of what makes people want to use a platform is the signal to noise ratio, which is a subjective call.
So Twitter/Facebook/Reddit/Gab/Patterico.com have to make a subjective judgement calls about what is okay in their domain. Everyone who cares get’s to offer their opinion about these calls.
I have no problem with Twitter declining certain adds because they think that’s the best thing for their business. I have no problem with Gab allowing vigorous debate about just how subhuman non-white men are. They put the work into build their sites and they get to call the shots on them. They are their property and I think people should have rights over their property.
Time123 (7cca75) — 10/31/2019 @ 4:47 amSo I thought about this a little more and it doesn’t seem like that big of a change for people that want to get their message out.
If i want to target a specific group on Twitter I now need to find someone with the followers I’m trying to target and pay them to post message under their own name.
It looks like this really just moves the revenue from Twitter to Twitter users with the right kind of engagement profiles. I’m not close enough to the details to have any insight into if this will raise or lower the cost of political adds.
So if you want to get out video about how Trump is the last thing standing between god fearing white folk and a horde of vile brown men instead of paying twitter to post it as an add you pay Ann Coulter to link to the video approvingly.
It seems like a small change, with the biggest difference being that someone will need to put their name on the message, but for large issues and national candidates this won’t be hard. This will probably be a larger barrier to people running for local or statewide office.
Time123 (235fc4) — 10/31/2019 @ 4:53 amI have some info i would like to share to the readers here
Jonathan (bde278) — 11/24/2019 @ 1:26 pm