Until recently, it’s been the Wild West when it comes to regulating American political ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But in December 2022, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved new regulations that require some previously exempt online political advertisements to disclose who paid for those ads.
It’s a step in the right direction, but as Straight Arrow News contributor John Fortier explains, we also need to set some rules that prevent changing the rules for political advertising too close to an election.
We are ramping up for a presidential election. How should social media companies deal with political advertising?
Candidates, campaigns, and political parties need to communicate with voters. And it’s no surprise that billions of dollars are spent on political advertising. Historically, the largest amount of money has been spent on television advertising. And today, television is still the biggest mode of advertising. And as television advertising is long established, the rules are relatively stable, as there are some government regulation, long-term players, and a well-established market for advertising.
But recent years have seen a significant rise in political advertising on social media. Political campaigns spend heavily on bigger platforms like Facebook and Google, but also on other social media outlets like video and streaming television platforms that blur the lines between television and social media.
As the social media platforms are newer than television and less regulated, their policies on advertising are relatively new, subject to change, and part of a larger debate on how social media companies should operate. While there are many thorny issues on how social media companies should regulate political ads, there’s one bottom line policy that social media companies should follow for the 2024 election. Social media platforms should put in place rules and regulations for advertising on their platforms, and promise not to make policy changes in the months leading up to the election.
