Is it Ethical for Social Media Companies to Allow Political Advertisements?

As much as I like to avoid discussing anything political, especially during peak campaign times, I found the intricacies of how these campaigns are crafted to be relevant to much of what we are learning in class. In a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center, it was found that most Americans feel that political ads should be banned from being displayed on social media. 54% of Americans felt that social media companies should not work with political advertisers, while 77% of Americans went even further to note that they should not be served advertisements based on their online activities.

While there has always been controversy, especially recently, about how consumer analysis and behavioral data should be used in the ways of manipulation of advertising, political advertising may have taken it a step further. When U.S. citizens are targeted with political advertisements, it can affect the outcome of the country, democracy, and the way of the world. It’s much different than a shoe retailer targeting a teenage girl to purchase the heels she put in her online shopping cart a week back. Or a person looking to switch their internet provider. Political ads focus on much larger issues that span past a day, week, or month of consequences.

However, on the other side of campaign management, 45% of media companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, feel that political advertisements should be allowed on their platform. People 65 or older were particularly not interested in seeing political messages. When looking at the ethics of these advertisements, is it ethical for social media companies to allow political advertisements on their website? How can social media ensure the accuracy of their advertising claims?

Social media companies are making lots of money off political candidates who have open checkbooks without a concern about how their advertisements could impact their target audience. Within 2020, it’s anticipated that $1 billion dollars will be spent on digital advertisements, with over 59% of that on Facebook alone. There is a clear monetary incentive for social media platforms to allow these advertisements, but where do we draw the line?

As advertisements seem to fall into one of six categories as discussed by Deshpande & Keinan (2014), social media advertisers have a valid platform to allow political advertisements because they do follow a lot of the same tactics as typical campaigns. For example, looking at the presidential candidates as brand personalities, we see the same brand personality traits apparent in each campaign message that we do with other forms of campaigns such as product or employer marketing. The ads aim to be sincere, provide excitement about changes or consistency, showcase competence to do the job as a presidential leader, show they are sophisticated enough to run a country, and show ruggedness through their toughness to beat their competitor. Because political advertisements follow the same campaign outline as retailers, grocery stores, tech companies, manufacturers, or other services, is it fair to limit advertising? The argument could be made that these advertisements are meant to inform and therefore provide a positive reinforcement to society.

So, what do you say? Do you think political advertisements should be allowed on social media platforms?