Ethical Critique: Facebook’s Political Advertising

Ethics Critique: Facebook’s Political Advertising
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Ethics Critique: Facebook’s Political Advertising
Politicians use social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter to promote and increase their winning margins during elections. Facebook political advertising has particularly influenced voting patterns by targeting the electorate based on their political beliefs. The impact of social media on the political landscape can be seen through paid political ads where campaigns and organizations pay companies such as Facebook to broadcast their messages to voters. At the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Irina Raicu serves as the director of Internet Ethics and has argued against Facebook’s use of political advertising, which he believes is unethical. Early findings published by Facebook researchers indicated that political mobilization messages directly impact how voters consume information, express themselves politically, and behave when it comes to voting. Besides, Raicu (2019) claims that the mobilization messages delivered to millions of users during the 2010 U.S. elections impacted the electorate and friends of voters and friends of friends. The author cites Tarun Wadhwa’s 2014 article that explained how Facebook’s algorithms, design, and policies influence elections and the way voters access political information. Using ethical frameworks, this paper argues that Facebook’s use of political advertising in influencing voting patterns by providing a platform for collaboration and public deliberation is ethical, and the practice allows for free speech and democracy.
While negative political ads have often been attacked as unethical due to their capacity to result in voter apathy and cynicism and affect Facebook’s value to afford free speech and democracy, it is a fundamental ethical concern that needs to be addressed. Political advertising has faced a backlash in the past as unethical, but it is undeniable that the strategy holds some benefits, such as increasing voter turnout. Malloy and Pearson-Merkowitz’s (2016) study shows that both negative and positive advertising enhances voter turnout and candidates’ success. Using real-world campaign contexts where political candidates compete in an election, Malloy and Pearson-Merkowitz (2016) show that candidates can increase their winning margin by running effective and posit...