The left has long ignored conservatives’ complaints about Big Tech censorship: but now Democrats are whining that the shoe is on the other foot.
Facebook and Google have not lifted their respective bans on political ads, and likely won’t for at least another month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Facebook said, “The temporary pause for ads about politics and social issues in the US continues to be in place as part of our ongoing efforts to protect the election. Advertisers can expect this to last another month, though there may be an opportunity to resume these ads sooner. You can find more details here,” according to a blog post published November 2 and updated on Wednesday.
Google, similarly, does not plan to lift its ban any time soon. “Google representatives have told some advertisers it is unlikely to lift its ban in November or December,” several sources told The Journal.
This extended ad ban has Democrats outraged in the Georgia runoff senate races between Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock, and between Senator David Perdue (R-GA) and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.
"There is no replacing missed high-leverage moments in online fundraising. And ads are a HUGE part of that. Every day @Facebook and @Google wait to turn ads back on they cost @ReverendWarnock a huge number of donations AND volunteers," tweeted Tim Tagaris, former digital fundraising director for Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign. "A big gift to self-funding Kelly Loeffler."
"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. These ad bans are voter suppression plain and simple, they directly benefit Republican senators, and at a minimum there should be an exemption for ads in Georgia over the next two months," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Executive Director Scott Fairchild said in a statement.
Both senate races in Georgia are in the midst of a runoff election, which is “essentially a rematch that is held when none of the candidates meet the criteria for winning. Under Georgia law, candidates must receive a majority of the vote to win an election. If no candidate breaks 50 percent, the top two vote-getters then face off again in a runoff election to determine the winner,” according to The New York Times (The Times).
Facebook was concerned that “in the final days of an election, there may not be enough time to contest new claims,” according to a Facebook post by the platform’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The platform decided to ban all political ads beginning on October 27, and Google only allowed new ads through election day, according to The Washington Post.
Facebook and Google’s respective ad bans, apparently, still apply to races in progress, even though the runoff election itself is not until early January of 2021, according to The Times.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Facebook headquarters at 1-650-308-7300 and Google at 1-650-253-0000 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
