Facebook Won’t Sell New Political Ads the Week Before the Election

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today that the social network will not accept new political advertising in the week leading up to Election Day. It’s an effort, he said, to clamp down on misinformation and ensure voting isn’t suppressed. Political ads purchased before that final week will still be able to run on Facebook and…

WarnerMedia and Xandr Create Private Marketplace for Political Advertisers

Key insight: Political ad spend in digital is expected to reach $3 billion in 2020, according to GroupM. In a bid for political ad dollars, WarnerMedia and Xandr are taking another step closer together. Political and advocacy advertisers can now set up private marketplace deals through Xandr Invest, the ad-tech unit’s demand-side platform, to buy…

Reddit Sets Slate of Voting in America Ask Me Anything Sessions

Reddit is following up on its Up the Vote voter-registration initiative with Voting in America, a series of Ask Me Anything sessions leading up to Election Day in the U.S. Voting in America is aimed at giving Redditors access to information from experts on voting laws and voter rights, as well as clarity on the…

CNN Breathes New Life Into Political Cartoons Using Stop-Motion Animation

Advertising campaigns and candidates during an election season can often be complicated (and divisive), but marketing election coverage itself may leave some more room for creativity. In new ads, CNN is employing characters from classic political cartoons to help promote its live political coverage. In spots promoting the cable network’s coverage of events like the…

President Donald Trump Tries to Take Twitter Blocking Case to Supreme Court

President Donald Trump is seeking a U.S. Supreme Court Review of a lower court decision on whether blocking critics from his Twitter account is constitutional, and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is not happy. The Knight Institute filed a lawsuit against Trump in 2018, and U.S. District Court for the Southern District…

A Universal ID Won’t Work. It Could Jeopardize Election Integrity

As we approach November, media concern about election integrity grows. Of course, not all of that concern is genuine. Whether you are from the school of thought that has no issue with voter suppression if it protects your priorities, or are all for pushing for more voters to register at any cost, lines have been…

Trust in Social Platforms’ Handling of Political Views Is Shaky, Particularly Among Republicans

Nearly three-quarters of adults in the U.S. believe that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints that they find objectionable, and that belief is especially prevalent among Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. The think tank surveyed 4,708 U.S. adults between June 16 and…

NBC News, MSNBC Talent Help Viewers ‘Plan Your Vote’ in New Campaign

Key insights: NBC News had long been looking for its own version of “Rock the Vote.” This is the network’s first NBC News-centric PSA campaign. With the presidential election just 78 days away–and the Democratic National Convention kicking off tonight–NBC News is rolling out a new PSA campaign to help viewers determine how they can…

Google, YouTube Provide Updates on Their Efforts to Protect the US Elections

Google and its YouTube video site outlined steps they are taking to protect the upcoming presidential election in the U.S. Two features were added to Google Search. Searching for how to register to vote will bring up information about voter registration in the user’s state, including deadlines, options and a way to check their status….

Voting Information Center Goes Live on Facebook, Instagram

Facebook revealed the next step in its initiative to help 4 million people in the U.S. register to vote prior to November’s presidential election with the rollout of its Voting Information Center Thursday on Facebook and Instagram. The Voting Information Center can be accessed directly via the menu on Facebook or Instagram, and people can…

TikTok Details Measures to Protect 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

TikTok continues to play defense against the Trump administration’s continued assault on the video-creation platform, detailing a new set of steps to combat misinformation and election interference as the presidential election in the U.S. approaches. The platform’s misinformation policies are being extended to include synthetic or manipulated media, such as shallow or deepfakes, aimed at…

Twitter to Label Tweets From Key Government Officials, State-Affiliated Media Entities

Twitter added tweets from key government officials and from accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities to the list of political content that it affixes labels to. The social network defined key government officials as senior officials that are the voice of the nation-state abroad, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople and key diplomatic…

Biden Campaign’s $280 Million Ad Strategy Bets Big on Digital

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is spending more than a quarter-billion dollars on advertising in the ramp-up to the November election. The campaign for the presumptive Democratic nominee has laid out $280 million in paid media reservations, including a campaign-record $60 million in digital media, which centers around connected TV. The campaign’s decision…

What’s Going on With TikTok? Here’s a Quick Podcast Primer

TikTok has been one of the iconic pastimes of the 2020 quarantine era, with tens of millions of Americans using it to post everything from protest footage to viral dance challenges. But in recent days it’s also been in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, who threatened to “ban” the app due to concerns with…

Reddit Kicks Off Its Up the Vote Initiative

Reddit kicked off its Up the Vote voter-registration initiative, focused on alerting, educating and activating Redditors on their right to vote. The platform said in a blog post last week, “Content on Reddit receives an average of 165 million votes per day. But did you know that the 2016 presidential election only saw 128.8 million…

5 Key Takeaways After Big Tech CEOs Testify in Meandering Antitrust Hearing

The CEOs of four of world’s largest and most influential technology companies testified virtually today before the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, arguing that they are American success stories, not too-big-to-fail corporate behemoths who stifle competition. The 5 hours of questioning from lawmakers was at best wide-ranging and at worst completely disorganized and off-topic. Democrats…

This Somber Ad About Biden’s Family Tragedy Says His Empathy Is Needed in the White House

With the fur-flying and finger-pointing of political advertising season, any work that shows a modicum of restraint stands out. Moreover, any spot that tells a human, empathetic and compelling story that makes people stop in their tracks–especially in the middle of severe health and economic crises–demands attention. Such is a new spot, targeting key battleground…

Americans Are Wary of Social Platforms’ Power and Influence Over Politics

Adults in the U.S. believe social media platforms have too much power and influence when it comes to politics, and nearly one-half feel like more government regulation over the sector is necessary, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. The think tank polled 4,708 U.S. adults between June 16 and 22, finding that…

Trump Ad About ‘Chaos’ in U.S. Actually Used Photo From Pro-Democracy Rally in Ukraine

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has occasionally sparked reactions ranging from mockery to outrage due to its image selections in recent Facebook ads. A campaign ad vowing to “protect” a statue of Jesus earlier this month–amid national debate over the removal of statues associated with slaver–oddly showed a picture of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the…

Pew Examines the Partisan Divide on Social Media Among the 116th Congress

The explosion in social media use in recent years has not bypassed Congress, as a new study from Pew Research Center found that the typical, median member currently tweets 81% more often than in 2016, has nearly three times as many followers and sees over six times as many retweets, while on Facebook, 48% more…