The last-minute Facebook political ad ban could end up suppressing votes

Facebook's latest test balloon has popped.

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Facebook is considering a blackout of political ads in the "days" before the November 2020 election. That alarmed democratic campaign staff and experts, who warned that it could lead to voter suppression.

"Under this proposal the President could use organic posts to suppress voting by mail (as he did today), but Democrats could not run ads encouraging people to return their mail ballots," Rob Flaherty, the digital director for Joe Biden's presidential campaign, tweeted.

Political operatives think the report might be what's known as a "test balloon" in the media and political worlds, which is when an organization leaks an idea it is "considering" to either garner positive press, or gauge reaction. Read more...

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