Twitter will ban political ads globally especially in the upcoming November 2020 elections in America. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that all paid political ads will be stopped because he believes that a political message should be earned and not bought through social media.

Twitter will publish its policy in the mid-November and will implement it on November 22. However, the policy does not include ads support of voter registration but is limited only to paid political ads. 

This decision for Twitter to ban political ads will affect the candidates and specific issues. However, in a news article published in US News, he enumerated what the internet political ads present in the civic discourse and these are: machine learning-optimization of messaging and micro-targetting, unchecked misleading information and deep fakes.

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What prompted Twitter to ban political ads from their platform?

Social media is commonly used by candidates who are running for an office because it reaches a wide range of audience. In a study by Pew Research, seven out of ten adult Americans are using social media to connect with one another, engage with news, share information, and entertain themselves. As a matter of fact, there is a significant growth of social media users.

The Pew Research track its growth since 2005 to 2019. In 2005, the number American adults who are using social media is 5 percent. In 2014, it had risen to 62 percent. And this year, it significantly rises to 72 percent.

The rise of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and other social media platforms are taken advantage by politicians by streaming their platforms and programs especially during election. It has been proven already that most Americans recommend to their friends what they have seen in social media. 

Dorsey even emphasized that these are all increasing at high velocity, sophistication and overwhelming scale. As a matter of fact, according to Journalist's Resource, a December 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center suggests that 23 percent of American adults have shared fake news, knowingly or unknowingly, with friends and others and this causes confusion on central issues and events.

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This also led some news organizations to publish news reports spotlighting examples of hoaxes, fake news, and misinformation in 2016 Election day. This prompted their decision in Twitter to ban political ads.

In an another report in CNN, Twitter's Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal said that the company made not more than $3 million just from political ads in the 2018 cycle and the decision of the company to ban paid political ads is based on principle and not from money. He made the announcement amidst that scrutiny made by Silicon Valley that are handling political ads and particularly Facebook was criticized for allowing politicians to run false political ads. 

However, Zuckerberg said in his speech in Washington D.C. that banning paid political ads only gives an advantage to incumbent politicians who are covered by media. Zuckerberg added that this will somehow put the challengers into a disadvantage. In addition to that, Zuckerberg stressed that political ads are important because they serve as the voice of the local candidates, new challengers, and advocacy groups. 

On the other hand, President Donald Trump's campaign manager said that the decision of Twitter to ban political ads is a poor strategic decision because Twitter knows that President Trump has the most sophisticated online program ever compared to his other political candidates.

In order to avoid confusion about the new policy of Twitter to ban political ads, Dorsey revealed that more details will be shared on Nov. 15 and all paid political ads will not be accepted starting Nov. 22.

Read more: Twitter will ban political ads, Jack Dorsey announces and Twitter to Ban Paid Political Ads Ahead of 2020