In light of last weekend’s horrific mass shootings, the Facebook campaign advertisements President Donald Trump employs on the platform have come under closer scrutiny. Invasion According to an analysis by The New York Times, this year alone President Trump’s campaign has posted more than 2,000 ads on Facebook that include the phrase “invasion,” which ties into his 2020 focus on immigration. Many ads feature the phrase ““It’s CRITICAL that we STOP THE INVASION” or some variation upon it. To Trump’s many critics, this sort of language, as well as false and misleading claims about a “caravan” of migrants heading towards the border, is being used to stoke fear and hatred against immigrants for political gain. Manifesto The suspect in Saturday’s shooting at El Paso, which left 22 people dead, appeared to leave a manifesto stating “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and referenced “the great replacement” a conspiracy theory that non-white people are replacing white people. The suspect wrote on 8chan, an online forum known as a breeding ground and meeting place for extremist, that his views preceded Trump. But many analysts think Trump is normalizing the once fringe notion of an invasion, and helping to mainstream white supremacy and violence against people of color. Groupthink Trump is hardly the only Republican candidate using the term “invasion,” in Facebook ads, as candidates for Senate in Alabama and North Carolina and governor in West Virginia used the term as well. According to The New York Times, Trump’s spending on Facebook ads far exceeds that of any of the Democrat candidates. Half Measure: For the past several years, Facebook has been criticized as acting as a megaphone for hate speech. It’s also been scrutinized for its use by Trump and other mainstream political figures who espouse the language of white nationalism in their campaigns—as researchers have found a clear link to anti-refugee ads and violent attacks. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly vowed that Facebook would work to ban hate speech, especially from white nationalists, but critics argue the social media giant doesn’t go far enough or respond quickly enough to misleading information (as seen by their slow response to a misleading “deep fake” video of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi) often out of fear of being accused of anti-conservative bias. Suffice to say, Facebook’s image as being unresponsive to hate speech and misleading propaganda does not sit well with many shareholders, many of whom are calling for greater reforms of the company. -Michael Tedder Photo by Facebook Read More...
In light of last weekend’s horrific mass shootings, the Facebook campaign advertisements President Donald Trump employs on the platform have come under closer scrutiny. Invasion According to an analysis by The New York Times, this year alone President Trump’s campaign has posted more than 2,000 ads on Facebook that include the phrase “invasion,” which ties into his 2020 focus on immigration. Many ads feature the phrase ““It’s CRITICAL that we STOP THE INVASION” or some variation upon it. To Trump’s many critics, this sort of language, as well as false and misleading claims about a “caravan” of migrants heading towards the border, is being used to stoke fear and hatred against immigrants for political gain. Manifesto The suspect in Saturday’s shooting at El Paso, which left 22 people dead, appeared to leave a manifesto stating “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and referenced “the great replacement” a conspiracy theory that non-white people are replacing white people. The suspect wrote on 8chan, an online forum known as a breeding ground and meeting place for extremist, that his views preceded Trump. But many analysts think Trump is normalizing the once fringe notion of an invasion, and helping to mainstream white supremacy and violence against people of color. Groupthink Trump is hardly the only Republican candidate using the term “invasion,” in Facebook ads, as candidates for Senate in Alabama and North Carolina and governor in West Virginia used the term as well. According to The New York Times, Trump’s spending on Facebook ads far exceeds that of any of the Democrat candidates. Half Measure: For the past several years, Facebook has been criticized as acting as a megaphone for hate speech. It’s also been scrutinized for its use by Trump and other mainstream political figures who espouse the language of white nationalism in their campaigns—as researchers have found a clear link to anti-refugee ads and violent attacks. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly vowed that Facebook would work to ban hate speech, especially from white nationalists, but critics argue the social media giant doesn’t go far enough or respond quickly enough to misleading information (as seen by their slow response to a misleading “deep fake” video of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi) often out of fear of being accused of anti-conservative bias. Suffice to say, Facebook’s image as being unresponsive to hate speech and misleading propaganda does not sit well with many shareholders, many of whom are calling for greater reforms of the company. -Michael Tedder Photo by Facebook
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