DSCC Executive Director Scott Fairchild issued the following statement on Google lifting its post-election political ad ban tomorrow and the continued refusal from Facebook to do the same:
“With less than a week to go until early voting starts in Georgia, Google’s decision to lift their ban on political ads is overdue, but this is positive news and Facebook must now do the same. The bottom line is that banning political ads does not solve the serious problems these online platforms have with spreading organic disinformation about our elections. The longer Facebook’s ad ban continues, the more indefensible this decision becomes and the more harm it does to voter participation in Georgia’s runoffs, with a disproportionate effect on communities of color. Even Facebook’s own self-declared deadline for lifting this ban is in just two days — it’s past time for transparency and a commitment to ending this misguided policy.”
It’s been nearly a month since Facebook admitted to its plans to continue extending its post-election ban on political ads for “another month,” and the platform has not provided any further clarity in recent weeks about when to expect political ads to return.
The continued ban on political ads disproportionately hurts the Ossoff and Warnock campaign outreach efforts to share critical voting information about the runoff elections on January 5th, benefiting both Senators Loeffler and Perdue. The voter registration deadline on December 7th has already passed, and early voting begins imminently on Monday, December 14th. Given the unusual timing of the runoff election, campaigns will have to do more voter education and mobilization than ever before to ensure Georgians know how and when to vote.
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