Facebook and Google Extend Bans on Political Ads -- Update
November 11 2020 - 2:31PM
Dow Jones News
By Emily Glazer
Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google plan to continue
banning political ads on their platforms for the next several weeks
to prevent confusion about election results, according to people
familiar with the matter and an email reviewed by The Wall Street
Journal.
Facebook told advertisers in an email Wednesday it plans to
continue its postelection ban on political ads for "another month."
Google representatives have told some advertisers it is unlikely to
lift its ban in November or December, the people said.
"While multiple sources have projected a presidential winner, we
still believe it's important to help prevent confusion or abuse on
our platform," according to the email Facebook sent Wednesday.
The tech companies initially indicated the bans would last a
week after Election Day but could be extended.
The Associated Press and other major media outlets on Saturday
declared that Joe Biden won the presidential election. President
Donald Trump has yet to concede and has alleged voter fraud but his
campaign hasn't provided evidence of widespread irregularities.
The extended ad bans come as Georgia prepares for a pair of
Senate runoff races on Jan. 5. Those races will likely determine
which party controls the U.S. Senate and whether President-elect
Biden will have a Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress
when he begins his administration.
Facebook told the advertisers it is continuing to "temporarily
pause" all ads on social issues, electoral or political ads in the
U.S. for another month, though it may lift the restriction
sooner.
Facebook, in an updated company blog post Wednesday, said the
temporary pause on political ads is continuing "as part of our
ongoing efforts to protect the election." A Google spokeswoman said
the company didn't have further information to share.
Republicans and Democrats have said these political ad bans
favor incumbents or those with larger social-media followings,
because they can blast out messages from their own accounts or
pages instead of relying on advertisements.
In one runoff, Republican Sen. David Perdue, a former chief
executive of Dollar General Corp., is facing Democrat Jon Ossoff, a
documentary filmmaker who has never held political office. In the
other, Democrat Raphael Warnock, pastor of the late Dr. Martin
Luther King's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, aims to oust
Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Ms. Loeffler is a businesswoman
appointed last year by Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Representatives for the campaigns of Messrs. Warnock and Ossoff
said there should be an exemption for the Georgia runoffs so they
can run ads on the digital platforms explaining how people can
register to vote, sign up for absentee ballots and ensure their
vote counts.
Representatives for the campaigns of Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue
didn't respond to requests for comment.
"Organic disinformation is the actual problem on these
platforms, and continuing to ban ads is now actively harmful to
organizations working to inform Georgia's diverse voters about the
January runoffs," Scott Fairchild, executive director of the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
A spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee
said "the lack of transparency on when ads will resume and the
timing of it could not be worse."
A political ad consultant working for one of the Republican
campaigns in Georgia said the bans are frustrating but will also
push campaigns to use other channels, like targeting audiences
through online publishers.
Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 11, 2020 14:16 ET (19:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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