The most talked-about moments during this year's Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention can be found on Twitter. But you won't find political ads.
"We had a long conversation and the decision was that political reach should really be earned," Twitter's vice president of policy and philanthropy in the Americas Jessica Herrera-Flanigan told Cheddar. "It shouldn't be bought."
In October 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced Twitter would ban all political ads. In several tweets, Dorsey explained machine-learned targeting, message optimization, misleading information, and manipulated media made it too easy to sway elections — not to mention the fact the candidates with the most money were often the most heard online.
"We wanted to level the playing field, and not make it about who was able to buy the most ads, especially when we know that Internet advertising was especially effective, and political ads, they present entirely new challenges to civil discourse around the elections," Herrera-Flanigan explained.
Though Twitter often hosts spirited political debates, it actually made very little of its revenue from political ads. Twitter's CFO Ned Segal said it made about $3 million from political ads during the 2018 midterm election cycle. For comparison, it made $683 million last quarter in total advertising revenue.
The decision to take a stand by blocking political dollars has put the company in the spotlight. President Donald Trump's campaign, which has been critical of the decision in the past, said it's a bad business decision and will "silence conservatives."
Herrera-Flanigan pointed out you can still talk about politicians on Twitter, but it's the natural conversations, that aren't paid for, that you'll see. The most tweeted about people during the DNC were Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, and Bernie Sanders, while the RNC's most tweeted about speakers were Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley. The most tweeted moment during the DNC came about as Michelle Obama ended her speech, while the RNC's occurred during Donald Trump Jr.'s address.
"You have individuals now who can get on and speak, and provide their voices," she said. "There are so many different voices out there and rather than being a platform where only those people who could afford political ads can get on it, Twitter's a place where people who have something to say — politicians who have something to say — can get on the service and say it."
Further stepping into controversial territory, Twitter is also urging people to register to vote early, as well as file absentee ballots. It has been working with local election officials to address their needs, Herrera-Flanigan said President Trump has fought such moves by claiming mail-in ballots have high levels of fraud, which includes his accusation during the RNC that ballots could be sent to Democratic areas and not Republican areas. The FBI has stated there is no evidence of plans to manipulate election results through the mail this cycle.
"We are taking a strong stance on just trying to get everyone who's eligible to vote to register and vote, whatever mechanism that is and in a way that's safe," Herrera-Flanigan said.
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