Facebook's feckless decision to accept political ads from candidates that make false claims has the potential to damage American democracy at a time when social media can be more easily manipulated than ever. Now Google has raised the threat level by rejecting seven ads from the Trump campaign that didn't meet its standards _ but declining to say what those standards were or which ads it banned. Meanwhile, YouTube, which Google owns, uses Facebook's let-them-lie approach for posts. How can the smart people who built these tech juggernauts be so incoherent on this? Why not be transparent or consistent? Why not be responsible?
The best approach remains for Facebook and Google to do what broadcast and cable TV networks have done for decades: Have politically neutral fact-checkers vet every single political ad. This approach has not prevented past campaigns from running powerful, hard-hitting ads. What it does prevent, or at least limit, is the rapid spread of disinformation. After the spectacle of social media being used to foment confusion among potential American voters by inciting racial controversies and lying about candidates during the 2016 presidential campaign, it's hard to fathom that Facebook and Google don't have clear policies in place for the 2020 campaign.
Facebook, Google, YouTube and other hugely popular social networks need to grasp they have a correspondingly huge responsibility to their users. Their actions show they haven't figured this out.
