Facebook, Trump and Free Speech: Who’s Winning?

Remember the early days of social media when we were all trying to figure out what this new medium was all about, and how it was relevant to our lives? Flash forward 16 years and social is documenting our moves and moods, helping drive change. And now, in the midst of a pandemic, a nationwide civil uprising and the reelection campaign of the most unpopular president anyone can remember, users are calling on their social media sites to do even more. They want them to monitor and sanction hate speech.

Big brands are now boycotting Facebook and taking their advertising dollars elsewhere

These are the guys with big advertising budgets—Unilever, Hershey’s, Eddie Bauer, Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, Microsoft and more. Facebook insists they’re already spending billions on deleting posts that could be perceived as hateful. 

But there’s something insidious going on here

CEO Mark Zuckerberg suited up, prepped and spent two days being grilled by Congress a few years ago. This was after the 2016 election when Facebook was being interrogated over data privacy issues. As the largest social media platform with $2.6B monthly active users, it’s first in line for scrutiny. Facebook was fined $5B for data breaches and the company has no interest in any more fines, oversight or regulation. 

It’s not your imagination

Zuckerberg has been seen looking pretty chummy with the President. For the majority of Americans who oppose Trump, this is alarming. A reason to boycott the platform.

The Zuckerbergs recently had a private dinner at the White House with the Trump family. Trump and Zuckerberg both like people who can be useful to them. According to Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor and now a fierce critic, “Mark’s deal with Trump is highly utilitarian. It’s basically about getting free rein and protection from regulation. Trump needs Facebook’s thumb on the scale to win this election.” So Facebook refuses to monitor Trump’s hate speech, and Trump stops dragging Zuckerberg in front of Congress to testify. 

Zuckerberg falls back on the right of free speech

Zuckerberg has skillfully ridden the high-stakes rollercoaster ride that is the politics of Donald Trump. “I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy,” he said in the address at Georgetown University on Oct. 17. “We don’t do this to help politicians, but because we think people should be able to see for themselves what politicians are saying.” His strategy seems to be working. Trump has been notably softer on Facebook than on his social media brethren.

Something to watch for

If Biden wins, Facebook is out of step with Democratic ideals. Jesse Lehrich, the co-founder of Accountable Tech, a nonprofit group pushing Facebook to tighten controls on its platform, describes their relationship as a tacit nonaggression pact. “Trump can rage at Big Tech and Mark can say he’s disgusted by Trump’s posts, but the status quo serves both of their interests,” Mr. Lehrich said. It’s the kind of relationship we all want.

Top of Mind Marketing: Staying on top of social and marketing issues. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing specialists.

Facebook, YouTube and Election Security

The Iowa caucus got off to an inauspicious start, but it officially kicked off the 2020 Presidential race. Let’s take a look at how people are getting their election-year news.

Facebook leads social sites as pathways to news 

Facebook and YouTube are the most-used social sites for accessing news—43% of US adults use Facebook and 21% turn to YouTube for their news. 

YouTube is taking a very responsible position on disinformation

YouTube has pledged to remove digitally altered content, alluding to the rising use of deepfakes– media in which a person is replaced with someone else’s likeness. Those with advanced video and photoshop abilities are skilled at swapping out or doctoring photos.  

YouTube will not allow content that:

• Has been technically manipulated or doctored in a way that misleads users and may pose a serious risk.
• Aims to mislead people about voting or the census processes—providing an incorrect date, for instance.
• Advances false claims related to the technical eligibility requirements–claims that a candidate is not eligible to hold office based on false information about citizenship requirements.

Content that violates these terms will be removed

YouTube promises to remove content that violates these rules or that “impersonates, misrepresents, or conceals association with a government.”

Facebook has 35,000 people working on its security team

Founder Mark Zuckerberg made an earlier announcement that Facebook would not monitor political ads because it would be interfering with free speech. A massive outcry appears to have had an impact. Facebook reportedly now has more than 35,000 people working on its security initiatives, with an annual budget well into the billions of dollars. 

After 2016’s Cambridge Analytica meltdown, Facebook apparently has become better able to seek out and remove foreign influence networks. It’s relying on an experienced team of former intelligence officials, digital forensics experts and investigative journalists. These aren’t a bunch of kids with some social media savvy. These are experts across a wide range of disciplines who come with a big collective price tag. 

Elections are being won and lost on social platforms 

Trump and Clinton together spent $81M on Facebook ads in 2016. But social app policy decisions have global impact and these new guidelines are impressive. Yet social is still in the business of driving engagement. They love to promote or host controversial content because it drives engagement and satisfies their performance goals.

Controversial content: The Trump campaign’s specialty

Trump runs Facebook ads that drive users to interactive polls that collect email addresses. In this way, his campaign has been able to collect millions of names, location markers and email addresses. They feed this information into their databanks for ad targeting and email marketing. 

Emboldened by the impeachment results, we can expect more Trump ads to focus aggressively on divisive and sensitive topics that will spark debate on social platforms, further dividing the country. This will delight Trump and his supporters and drive more users to Facebook. 

Breathe deeply. The stage is set for a particularly bitter election-year battle. 

Contact Top of Mind Marketing for help with your marketing strategy. We’re writers and digital media specialists. 

Facebook, Privacy and Your Data

It’s been a tough year for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

Facebook’s data wound up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, who used the information to target voters during the 2016 election. Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages. Facebook downplays the data privacy breach, claiming that it never granted access to user data without permission.

You really can’t overestimate the value of user data

Personal data has become the most prized commodity of the digital age, and it’s traded on a vast scale by powerful companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. For those who may not understand what this is all about, it’s hard to overestimate the value of user data. Data helps us understand consumer buying habits, and it’s worth its weight in gold. It helps companies know how to market to whom. Facebook users make it easy by happily providing detailed information about their lives as they fill in fields with their new job titles, education levels, marital status, interests, hobbies, etc. This information can all be exported and shared with other companies.

Sharing consumer data: How this works

Let’s say you just got engaged, so of course you added this to the Relationship field of your Facebook page. The average couple spends $25,000 on their wedding, so there’s a lot of money to be made here. Now think of all the vendors that service the wedding industry—florists, bakeries, hotels, caterers, photographers, dress designers, wedding planners, etc.

The more upscale (You’ve already identified your education level, community and job title, which are affluence indicators), the more interested these vendors are going to be. They want to identify those couples who are most likely to be spending upwards of $25K so they can begin marketing to these potential new wedding clients.

Facebook executives have acknowledged missteps over the past year

Facebook understands they’ve got to regain user trust, and it requires stronger teams, better technology and clearer policies. One spokeswoman says it has found no evidence of abuse by its partners. Some of the largest partners, including Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo, said they had used the data appropriately, but declined to discuss the sharing deals in detail. Facebook did admit to mismanaging some of its partnerships.

What’s next for Facebook?

Facebook is facing decelerating revenue growth—they’ve begun to saturate their market, at 1.74B users. Data privacy issues have taken a toll, but Facebook sees big opportunities in private messaging. Stories format and video. Facebook is investing in data privacy and messaging. Augmented and virtual reality represent a significant investment.

This last summer, California’s state legislature passed a groundbreaking bill that will give residents unprecedented control over their data. The law, criticized by pro-business groups like the Chambers of Commerce, will become law on January 1, 2020. Tech giants are racing to supersede the law with more industry-friendly legislation. A lot could happen before then.

Do you need help with your social media strategy?

Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing specialists.