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Facebook Finally Discloses Pro-Brexit Ads (techcrunch.com)
"The UK parliament has provided another telling glimpse behind the curtain of Facebook's unregulated ad platform by publishing data on scores of pro-Brexit adverts..." reports TechCrunch, adding that the 2016 ads "were run prior to Facebook having any disclosure rules for political ads. So there was no way for anyone other than each target recipient to know a particular ad existed or who it was being targeted at." An anonymous reader quotes their report:
The targeting of the ads was carried out on Facebook's platform by AggregateIQ, a Canadian data firm that has been linked to Cambridge Analytica/SCL... [I]t's not clear how many ad impressions they racked up in all. But total impressions look very sizable. While some of what runs to many thousands of distinctly targeted ads which AIQ distributed via Facebook's platform are listed as only garnering between 0-999 impressions apiece, according to Facebook's data, others racked up far more views. Commonly listed ranges include 50,000 to 99,999 and 100,000 to 199,999 -- with even higher ranges like 2M-4.9M and 5M-9.9M also listed....
The publication of the Brexit ads is, above all, a reminder that online political advertising has been allowed to be a blackhole -- and at times a cesspit -- because cash-rich entities have been able to unaccountably exploit the obscurity of Facebook's systemically dark ad targeting tools for their own ends, and operate in a darkness where only Facebook had oversight (and wasn't exercising any), leaving the public no right of objection let alone reply, despite it being people's lives that are indelibly affected by political outcomes.... The company has been making some voluntary changes to offer a degree of political ad disclosure, as it seeks to stave off regulatory rule. Whether its changes -- which at best offer partial visibility -- will go far enough remains to be seen.
Earlier this month the UK's data watchdog released a report titled "Democracy disrupted?" in which the UK's Information Commissioner recommends an "ethical pause" of political advertising on social media to allow key players "to reflect on their responsibilities in respect to the use of personal data..." And this weekend an interim report from the House of Commons' media committee "said democracy is facing a crisis because the combination of data analysis and social media allows campaigns to target voters with messages of hate without their consent," according to the Associated Press.
"Tech giants like Facebook, which operate in a largely unregulated environment, are complicit because they haven't done enough to protect personal information and remove harmful content, the committee said."
The publication of the Brexit ads is, above all, a reminder that online political advertising has been allowed to be a blackhole -- and at times a cesspit -- because cash-rich entities have been able to unaccountably exploit the obscurity of Facebook's systemically dark ad targeting tools for their own ends, and operate in a darkness where only Facebook had oversight (and wasn't exercising any), leaving the public no right of objection let alone reply, despite it being people's lives that are indelibly affected by political outcomes.... The company has been making some voluntary changes to offer a degree of political ad disclosure, as it seeks to stave off regulatory rule. Whether its changes -- which at best offer partial visibility -- will go far enough remains to be seen.
Earlier this month the UK's data watchdog released a report titled "Democracy disrupted?" in which the UK's Information Commissioner recommends an "ethical pause" of political advertising on social media to allow key players "to reflect on their responsibilities in respect to the use of personal data..." And this weekend an interim report from the House of Commons' media committee "said democracy is facing a crisis because the combination of data analysis and social media allows campaigns to target voters with messages of hate without their consent," according to the Associated Press.
"Tech giants like Facebook, which operate in a largely unregulated environment, are complicit because they haven't done enough to protect personal information and remove harmful content, the committee said."
Brexit weakens the UK/Euro almost as much as Trump did himself - all of this means May is correct in her approach to staunch the damage, and Nigel and Trump both deserve summary execution by firing squad as nothing more than traitors.
While Trump's actions at Helsinki, where he blatantly offered aid and comfort to the enemy who attacked us could be called treason, without congress declaring war, I don't think your going to get anywhere.
The correct remedy is impeachment.
It is a pity republicans aren't interested in right or wrong and that should be a lesson. Anytime someone preaches about how wonderful and moral they are because have principles, be very wary. When the principles only exist when they serve their interest they are not principles, but rather signposts pointing out how morally bankrupt they are.
The Brexit thing is a horrible shame, since I expect it wouldn't have happened without various corrupt and evil manipulations. People tend to be, by default out for themselves, and if you present something as giving them more of what they deserve, it often works, even if it is horribly short sighted.
Regardless, it is good for people to learn how far down the rabbit hole it all went. I doubt they are suddenly going to say, hey, weren't we really better off in the EU, but one can hope. Our alliances and treaties are the foundation of a time of relative peace in much of the world. It aint perfect, but seeing them all decay to dust is scary, and I do not trust Mr. Trump or his successors to be able to put Humpty Dumpy back together again.
Yes, every single political development that "progressives' don't like is actually caused by nefarious activities (which noted reactionaries like tech executives of course happily signed on to).
You could never, you know, just lose ...