Facebook's ban on new political ads won't change anything

Despite Facebook's flashy announcement, the site is going to look the same as it has all year, with some very minor exceptions.

The only thing this will prevent are political ads about last-minute issues that arise in the final seven days of the campaign.

Also, there's nothing stopping political advertisers from front-loading their ad buys on Facebook before the ban goes into effect so they can still run right up to Election Day.

Between early voting in states where it's available, mail-in voting and absentee voting, a record number of voters, up to 80 million, are expected to cast their ballots before Election Day, according to ananalysisbyThe New York Times.

Users, including political candidates, will still be able to spread false information about mail-in voting and the pandemic.

Other false or misleading content related to voting and/or the pandemic will be labeled with a link providing accurate information.

But you have to ask yourself: In such a polarized environment, are users more likely to believe false claims posted by their favorite candidate or a link to more information posted by Facebook?

But candidates will still be allowed to claim victory before the election is called or claim election fraud if they lose, even if there's no evidence to back up those claims. It's difficult to believe that Facebook's fact-checking will have any real impact on what people think.

Original article