CAN FIND POLITICAL ADS. DASH SHAH BURNS TAKES A LOOK AT
THE POLICY THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL
MEDIA PLATFORMS HAVE IN PLACE.
>> Reporter: POLITICAL AD
SPENDING IS SET TO BREAK A LOT
OF RECORDS IN THIS ELECTION
CYCLE.
CYCLE. EXPERTS ARE ALREADY PREDICTING
AD SPENDING WILL APPROACH $10
BILLION IN 2020.
THAT’S AT LEAST $3 BILLION MORE
THAN IN 2016.
WHILE MUCH OF THAT WILL BE SPENT
ON TRADITIONAL MEDIA, A LOT OF
THE GROWTH WILL COME FROM
DIGITAL ADS.
DIGITAL ADS. CANDIDATES HAVE ALREADY SPENT
MORE THAN $60 MILLION THIS YEAR
ON GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK ALONE,
AND THE BIGGEST SPENDERS SHOULD
COME AS NO SURPRISE, DONALD
TRUMP.
TRUMP. BUT POLITICS AND DIGITAL
PLATFORMS, THAT’S BEEN KIND OF A
ROCKY RELATIONSHIP.
ROCKY RELATIONSHIP. >> CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICAL DRILLED
DEEP LOOKING FOR A TROVE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA DATA ON AMERICANS
TO HELP REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGNS FINE-TUNE THEIR
MESSAGES AND WIN VOTES.
>> Reporter: THE 2020 ELECTION
IS PLAYING OUT AGAINST THE
BACKDROP OF RUSSIAN MEDDLING AND
THE MISINFORMATION CRISIS.
HOW ARE THE MAJOR DIGITAL
PLATFORMS WE USE EVERY DAY
ADAPTING THEIR POLICIES.
FACEBOOK, THE COMPANY GETS BY
FAR THE MOST DOLLARS FOR
POLITICAL ADS COMPARED TO ANY
OTHER DIGITAL PLATFORM.
THEY’VE ALSO COME UNDER THE MOST
SCRUTINY FOR THEIR POLICY.
IN AN EFFORT TO INCREASE
TRANSPARENCY AROUND POLITICAL
ADVERTISING, FACEBOOK RECENTLY
UPDATED THEIR POLICY.
WHEN YOU SEE ADS ON FACEBOOK,
THEY HAVE THE PAID FOR
DISCLAIMER.
DISCLAIMER. FACEBOOK ALSO CREATED AN AD
LIBRARY WHERE THE ADS ARE
ARCHIVED AND ACCESSIBLE TO THE
PUBLIC ALONG WITH THE REPORT FOR
A LOT OF DATA BEHIND THEM.
THAT’S GREAT.
THAT’S GREAT. MORE TRANSPARENCY, TIGHTER
POLICIES, THAT HASN’T SOLVED ALL
THE PROBLEMS.
THE PROBLEMS. >> JOE BIDEN PROMISED UKRAINE A
BILLION DOLLARS IF THEY FIRED
THE PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATING HIS
SON’S COMPANY.
SON’S COMPANY. >> Reporter: THE BIDEN CAMP
SLAMMED THIS AD AS MISLEADING
AND DEMAND FACEBOOK TAKE IT DOWN
AND SHUT DOWN OTHER ADS LIKE IT
BUT FACEBOOK REFUSED SAYING IT
DIDN’T VIOLATE THEIR POLICIES.
IN RESPONSE TO THIS, ELIZABETH
WARREN WHO ADVOCATES FOR
BREAKING UP BIG TECH RAN A
DELIBERATELY MISLEADING FACEBOOK
AD SAYING MARK ZUCKERBERG AND
FACEBOOK JUST ENDORSE DONALD
TRUMP FOR RE-ELECTION.
FACEBOOK KEPT THAT AD UP, TOO,
AND RECENTLY CLARIFIED THEIR
POLICY ON THE CONTENT FOR
POLITICAL ADS, ESSENTIALLY
CARVING OUT SPECIAL RULES.
HERE IS HOW FACEBOOK’S VP OF
GLOBAL AFFAIRS AND
COMMUNICATIONS PUT IT.
>> WE DO NOT SUBMIT SPEECH BY
POLITICIANS TO OUR INDEPENDENT
FACT CHECKERS AND WE GENERALLY
ALLOW IT ON THE PLATFORM EVEN
WHEN IT WOULD OTHERWISE BREACH
OUR NORMAL CONTENT RULES.
>> Reporter: CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG
DEFENDED THE POLICY IN AN
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH LESTER
HOLT THIS WEEK.
>> DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE
GIVING A GREEN LIGHT TO
POLITICIANS, LIE, LIE, LIE?
>> I BELIEVE THAT IT IS
IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE
TO HEAR AND SEE WHAT POLITICIANS
ARE SAYING.
ARE SAYING. THAT SPEECH WILL BE HEAVILY
SCRUTINIZED BY OTHER
JOURNALISTS.
JOURNALISTS. >> Reporter: FACEBOOK IS NOT THE
ONLY ONE FACING THESE ISSUES.
IN THE LAST DEMOCRATIC DEBATE,
TWITTER TOOK THE SPOTLIGHT IN AN
EXCHANGE BETWEEN KAMALA HARRIS
AND ELIZABETH WARREN.
LET’S LOOK AT THEIR POLICIES.
TWITTER AMENDED THEIR POLICY IN
2018 AHEAD OF THE MIDTERMS WITH
A GOAL OF PREVENTING FOREIGN
INTERFERENCE.
INTERFERENCE. TWITTER ALSO HAS REQUIREMENTS
FOR HOW THESE ADVERTISERS
PRESENT THEMSELVES ON THE
PLATFORM WITH FOCUS ON
REPRESENTING THEMSELVES
REPRESENTING THEMSELVES ACCURATELY IN THEIR PROFILES AND
ADS.
ADS. BUT LIKE FACEBOOK, TWITTER ALSO
HAS DIFFERENT RULES FOR WHAT
THEY DEFINE AS WORLD LEADERS.
THEORETICALLY ALL ADVERTISERS
AND USERS NEED TO FOLLOW CERTAIN
RULES, BUT TWITTER ALSO SAYS
THERE ARE CERTAIN CASES WHERE IT
MAY BE IN THE PUBLIC’S INTEREST
TO HAVE ACCESS TO CERTAIN TWEETS
EVEN IF THEY WOULD OTHERWISE BE
IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES.
THEY DO SAY THEY’LL PUT A
CERTAIN NOTICE ON THOSE TWEETS
THAT YOU HAVE TO TAP THROUGH TO
SEE THE CONTENT OF THE TWEET.
THAT’S A STEP FACEBOOK DOESN’T
TAKE.
TAKE. TWITTER ALSO HAS AN AD
TRANSPARENCY CENTER BUT THEY
DON’T PROVIDE A REPORT THE WAY
FACEBOOK DOES.
FACEBOOK DOES. HERE I CAN’T SEE USEFUL DATA
AROUND MONEY SPENT, BIGGEST
SPENDERS OR ANYTHING OF THE
SORT.
SORT. ON THE OTHER HAND, GOOGLE WHICH
OWNS YOUTUBE, DOES HAVE A
POLITICAL AD TRANSPARENCY
REPORT.
REPORT. HERE WE CAN SEE THINGS LIKE HOW
MUCH MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT SINCE
THEY LAUNCHED THE REPORT BACK IN
MAY OF 2018.
IT’S UP TO MORE THAN $117
MILLION.
MILLION. AND HERE IS THE CONTROVERSIAL
TRUMP CAMPAIGN AD ABOUT BIDEN.
WE REACHED OUT TO GOOGLE ABOUT
THIS AD TO GET CLARITY ON THEIR
POLITICAL ADVERTISING POLICIES.
THEY SAID IT DIDN’T VIOLATE
THEIR POLICY, A SPOKESPERSON
TELLING ME, ALL ADS THAT RUN ON
OUR PLATFORM HAVE TO COMPLY WITH
OUR AD POLICIES.
FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISERS, WE
HAVE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
SUCH AS VERIFICATION OF THE
ADVERTISER A PAID FOR BY
DISCLOSURE.
DISCLOSURE. WHEN IT COMES TO CONTENT, UNLIKE
FACEBOOK OR TWITTER, GOOGLE
DOESN’T ACTUALLY DISTINGUISH
BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND OTHER
ADVERTISERS AND USERS.
AND THEY DO HAVE A POLICY THAT
RESTRICTS MISLEADING CONTENT.
THE FOCUS HERE IS REALLY FALSE
CLAIMS AROUND PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES LIKE MIRACLE CURES.
IT DOESN’T INCLUDE RESTRICTIONS
THAT WOULD APPLY TO POLITICAL
ATTACK ADS THAT HAVE INFORMATION
LIKE TRUMP’S ADD AGAINST BIDEN.
A YOUNGER PLAYER IN THE GAME,
SNAPCHAT, DOES APPROACH THINGS A
LITTLE DIFFERENTLY.
LITTLE DIFFERENTLY. SNAP WAS A LITTLE LATE TO THE
GAME.
GAME. ITS POLICIES WENT INTO EFFECT
MAY OF THIS YEAR.
IN ADDITION TO POLICIES TO
RESTRICT FOREIGN INTERFERENCE
AND RESTRICT TRANSPARENCY, THEY
DO DIRECTLY ADDRESS THE CONTENT
OF POLITICAL ADS.
HERE IS A REALLY INTERESTING
NOTE.
NOTE. IT SAYS WE ENCOURAGE POLITICAL
ADVERTISERS TO BE POSITIVE, BUT
WE DON’T CATEGORICALLY BAN
ATTACK ADS.
ATTACK ADS. THAT SAID, POLITICAL ADS MUST
NOT ATTACK A CANDIDATE’S
PERSONAL LIFE.
PERSONAL LIFE. IT’S NOT EXACTLY USER FRIENDLY.
THE BIGGEST DEFECTOR OF ALL IS
SOCIAL VIDEO APP TIK TOK, THEY
BAN POLITICAL ADS ALTOGETHER.
IN A BLOG POST THEY WROTE THE
NATURE OF POLITICAL ADS IS NOT
SOMETHING WE BELIEVE FITS THE
TIK TOK PLATFORM EXPERIENCE.
INSTEAD OF ADS YOU’LL BE SEEING
CONTENT LIKE THIS.
JULIAN CASTRO IS THE ONLY
CANDIDATE AS FAR AS WE KNOW THAT
EVEN HAS A TIK TOK ACCOUNT.
SO
SO MUCH OF THIS IS LIKELY TO EVOLVE
AS THE ELECTION KEEPS UP.
WE’LL BE KEEPING A WATCHFUL EYE
ON HOW PLATFORMS CHANGE,