If ad bans won’t help against foreign interference, will they at least help foster a healthier and more authentic domestic discourse? Dorsey’s argument that “political message reach should be earned, not bought” sounds reasonable enough. But if you expect ad bans to bolster outsider candidates against monied interests, you may be disappointed. Ryan Grim, a political writer for The Intercept and author of We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement, called Dorsey’s announcement “a huge blow to progressives, and a boon to big-money candidates.” Twitter and Facebook, Grim explained in a tweet, “are where candidates build and organize lists of supporters, that they then turn into donors and volunteers. If only Twitter bans ads, that’ll hurt progressive candidates but it wouldn’t be fatal. If Facebook does it too, that’s damn near fatal in this ecosystem. That’s how unknown candidates find supporters, persuade them to join their email list/contact info, then organize them.”
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Source: Paid Political Ads Are Not the Problem. Our Perceptions Are | WIRED