VOA慢速英语--Unlike Facebook, Twitter Bans Political Advertisements

 

The heads of two leading social media companies have very different ideas about paid advertisements supporting political candidates.

On Wednesday, Twitter's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jack¹ Dorsey, said that the social media company would stop all political advertising². On the same day, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg again defended his company's policy of permitting political advertisements. Zuckerberg faced questions on the subject from lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee last week.

Twitter: message reach should be earned

In a series of tweets, Dorsey said Wednesday that internet advertising is effective for advertisers. But he warned: "That power brings significant risks to politics."

Dorsey went on to say that his company believed that "political message reach should be earned not bought."

He then described what he meant by "message reach." Dorsey said:

"A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet." He then said, "Paying for reach removes that decision...forcing political messages on people."

On Twitter, people can follow accounts and retweet messages they find notable. They also can receive paid messages from advertisers without their approval.

The Associated Press reports that Twitter will offer details about its policy on November 15. The ban on political advertising is to go into effect on November 22. The ban will cover ads in support of candidates and ones on political issues. But Twitter will permit advertisements that support voter registration³.

The decision will have a comparatively small effect on Twitter's earnings⁴. The company's chief financial officer said that the company received less than $3 million from political advertising during the 2018 elections in the U.S.

Facebook: ads a part of political voice

The comments from Dorsey were very different from those of Facebook's Zuckerberg. Facebook announced earlier this month that it would not fact check political ads. That means the company will not research whether or not the information presented in political ads is true or not. It also will not take down ads that may contain false information.

Zuckerberg faced tough questions about the policy while giving testimony⁵ to Congress. Facebook again defended its policy last week saying: "In a democracy, people should decide what is credible⁶, not tech companies."

Zuckerberg again spoke⁷ about the company's decision Wednesday. He said, "Ads can be an important part of voice – especially for candidates and advocacy groups the media might not otherwise cover..."

The Facebook chief told shareholders⁸ that ads from politicians would account for less than .5 percent of the company's income next year.

Facebook promised to deal with misinformation on its platform after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. At that time, Russian efforts to spread false information led to several investigations⁹ of foreign influence in American elections. Facebook has periodically taken down pages suspected of being linked to Russian misinformation efforts.

Many accounts with large numbers of followers¹⁰ on Twitter also are disabled because, the company says, they do not follow the service's rules.

Other opinions

Some people consider Twitter's policy of not permitting political ads to be better. Jascha Kaykas-Wolff heads marketing¹¹ efforts at technology company Mozilla. He agrees with Twitter's decision to ban political ads. "Accepting money to run ads that contain falsehoods isn't the right thing to do for people," he said.

Others say barring political ads will hurt political challengers who are not recognized by voters. Matt Shupe is a Republican political advisor¹² who notes that advertising is an important way for a candidate to gain attention. He said, "If you're a challenger, advertising allows you to make up that difference."

Twitter's ban on "issue ads" that support one side of a public debate are also a concern. Ryan Schleeter is a spokesman for the environmental group Greenpeace. He said he does not want to see companies able to run ads while "those who confront corporate¹³ power are censored¹⁵."

I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

Michelle Quinn reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional materials from Reuters and AP. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

Words in This Story

advocacy –n. an effort to support a cause or proposal

challenger –n. a person who is competing against someone who holds already holds an office

confront –v. to oppose or challenge a person or a group in a forceful way

censor¹⁴ –v. to examine books, movies or other forms of communication in order to remove things that are considered harmful to society

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

11 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

12 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

14 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

15 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。