It shouldn’t be too much to ask that platforms like Facebook encourage issue-based ads that help people register to vote or that connect them to advocacy campaigns to end gun violence, climate change, etc while *at the same time* banning ads that are racist, disinformation, etc.
It’s really not all the same. There’s right and wrong, good and bad. Platforms should do good, regardless of the political risks. But that requires courage and integrity - qualities that Facebook’s leadership has failed to demonstrate to date.
These platforms have the power to make the world a better, or worse, place. They should be held accountable to making it better, not staying “neutral”/ducking from the fight entirely.
We’ve used FB ads to register thousands of formerly incarcerated people to vote and engage people in advocacy to end police violence. It would be very difficult to do this at this scale/cost using other methods. Doing good should not only be allowed, it should be incentivized.
