ＦＢ、政治広告の非表示機能を導入　批判押さえ込む狙い

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】交流サイト（SNS）最大手の米フェイスブックは、利用者が政治広告をすべて非表示にできる機能を導入した。選挙に関する偽情報に干渉しない立場を維持していた同社だが、この批判を押さえ込む動きに出る。（写真は資料写真）
　米国やその他一部の国のフェイスブックやインスタグラムの利用者は１７日から、候補者や政治団体の資金により掲載される広告を非表示にする選択が可能となる。新機能は１６日夜に発表された。フェイスブックをはじめとするＳＮＳ各社は、政治を議論する開かれたプラットフォームでありつつ、偽情報の配信を抑えるよう強い圧力にさらされている。
　政治家の投稿内容の事実確認を求める声が上がる中、フェイスブックはこれに断固として応じない姿勢をとってきた。米大統領選で民主党候補指名が確実となったジョー・バイデン氏も、ドナルド・トランプ大統領からの偽情報がまん延しているとし、その取り締まりを求めていた。
　フェイスブックの今回の発表について、ソーシャルメディアと政治を専門とする米ハートフォード大学のアダム・シアラ教授は、広報活動上の取り組みで実際の効果がほとんどない可能性があると指摘。フェイスブックは「言論の検閲を行わない点で勝利」を収めたと主張することはできるものの、新機能は「プラットフォーム上の有害な発言から同社を遠ざけることを促すものでは全くない」との考えを示した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/06/18-11:28）

Facebook is allowing users to turn off all political ads in a move aimed at quelling criticism of the leading social network's hands-off approach to election misinformation.
The feature being rolled out in the United States from Wednesday and some other countries will give Facebook and Instagram users the option of blocking paid ads from candidates and political groups.
The initiative announced late Tuesday comes amid intense pressure on Facebook and other social media services to stem the flow of false information while remaining open platforms for political debate.
Facebook has steadfastly rejected calls to fact-check politicians including a plea from Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden to clamp down on what he called rampant disinformation from President Donald Trump.
Facebook vice president of product management and social impact Naomi Gleit said the initiative expands on the social network's ad preferences options which already allowed users to see fewer political ads.
She said the feature was being made available as part of our preparations for the 2020 US elections and would be offered in countries where we have enforcement on ads about social issues, elections and politics later this year.
Adam Chiara, a University of Hartford professor who follows social media and politics, said Facebook's announcement may be a public relations move with little real impact.
Chiara said Facebook would be able to tout a victory for not censoring speech but that it does nothing to help move away from the toxic speech on the platform.
I'm curious how many people will actually opt out, Chiara said. Many Facebook users don't even change their default privacy settings. How many will take the time to do this?
Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation fellow at the Washington-based Wilson Center, said the effort isn't going to have an impact on the most vulnerable users who are less Facebook literate, less likely to fiddle with their ad settings, and more likely to buy into the spurious information Facebook is getting paid to show them.
- Registering four million -
As part of the same announcement, Facebook said it would launch what it called the largest voting information effort in US history with an election hub and a goal of registering four million voters.
We're encouraging people to vote, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in USA Today.
I believe Facebook has a responsibility not just to prevent voter suppression -- which disproportionately targets people of color -- but also to actively support well-informed voter engagement, registration and turnout.
The efforts by Facebook appeared to address concerns that it allowed misinformation and foreign influence campaigns to target voters in the 2016 US election, in some cases aimed at discouraging voters or giving them inaccurate information.
Amid a toxic political environment, Twitter last month began labeling or limiting the reach of comments from Trump deemed to be inciting violence or promoting misinformation.
That prompted an angry response from Trump, who signed an executive order which could lead to more oversight of social media, despite doubts about its enforceability.
Zuckerberg in his statement Thursday reiterated Facebook's policy which generally exempts politicians from fact-checking.
Ultimately, I believe the best way to hold politicians accountable is through voting, and I believe we should trust voters to make judgments for themselves he said.
At the same time he added that we have rules against speech that will cause imminent physical harm or suppress voting, and no one is exempt from them.