,
9 tweets,
4 min read
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1. In order to avoid a repeat of the 2016 disaster, political spending on Facebook in advance of 2020 is supposed to be transparent.
Is it?
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
Is it?
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
2. Well one of the top spenders on political ads in recent week -- to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars -- is an obscure publication called The Epoch Times
Who is funding these ads? No one knows
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
Who is funding these ads? No one knows
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
3. The Epoch Times, which was founded by practitioners of Falun Gong, is organized as a non-profit. That means it has to report its donors to the IRS but not to the public.
So we don't know. And Facebook doesn't know.
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
So we don't know. And Facebook doesn't know.
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
4. What does Facebook have to say about this problem?
The "challenge of transparency in political and issue advertising is one that extends beyond Facebook."
True but Facebook makes things much worse.
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
The "challenge of transparency in political and issue advertising is one that extends beyond Facebook."
True but Facebook makes things much worse.
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
5. For example, Epoch Times doesn't pay for these advertisements through it's main Facebook page. It used a subsidiary page called "Coverage of the Trump Presidency by The Epoch Times"
This makes it nearly impossible to track unless you are looking for it popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
This makes it nearly impossible to track unless you are looking for it popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
6. Facebook is a $500B company with 35K employees that somehow does not have any resources to monitor political spending on its platform w/real people.
That's why I'm spending hours every day doing it.
To support this work, subscribe to my newsletter at popular.info
That's why I'm spending hours every day doing it.
To support this work, subscribe to my newsletter at popular.info
7. This of course leaves open the question of why The Epoch Times likes Trump so much. It's unclear, but The Epoch Times is banned in China and, like Falun Gong, opposes the Chinese government.
They may see Trump as a (helpful) destabilizing force
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
They may see Trump as a (helpful) destabilizing force
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
8. The Epoch Times claims Trump reads the paper every day. (Doubtful since he doesn't read.)
It traffics in Trump conspiracy theories like "Spygate" which is summarized in this crazy poster which it will send you for free.
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
It traffics in Trump conspiracy theories like "Spygate" which is summarized in this crazy poster which it will send you for free.
popular.info/p/the-epoch-of…
9. Epoch Times pumping out some hot new (paid) content on Facebook today
