With the upcoming 2020 presidential election, several politicians are publishing

campaign ads. They are utilizing all the resources at their disposal, such as television commercials and social media sites like Facebook which is prone to campaign ads containing invalid information.

In an interview with the Washington Times, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended Facebook’s policy for political campaign ads. The policy states that Facebook will publish ads that misinterpret or produce invalid information. Zuckerberg states, “People worry, and I worry deeply, too, about an erosion of truth. At the same time, I don’t think people want to live in a world where you can only say things that tech companies decide are 100% true. And I think that those tensions are something we have to live with.” Essentially, he wants us to live knowing his company will allow campaign ads containing lies and slander. I understand people have a right to voice their opinions on social media platforms, but when there are those who purposely publish false information in exchange for money, their opinions become dangerous.

Campaign ads are notorious for what they have to say against their opponents. Though many are laughably false, some people believe everything they see on Facebook. The Pew Research Center discovered that 66% of adults use Facebook and 44% of those who use the application receive their news from it. Given these statistics, it is unacceptable that Facebook is not willing to change its policies on political ads.

During the 2016 presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, a Facebook internal report showed the Trump campaign spent the most on Facebook ads. The Trump campaign spent $44 million compared to Clinton’s $28 million. Facebook chooses not to bat an eye to what each campaign ad has to say about the state of America or political opponent because the company knows how much money it will make by selling political ads. Because Trump uses so much money for his Facebook ads, he is able to get away with certain videos containing false information like those about why the U.S. should build a border wall. Facebook does not care about the truth or what is right or wrong when it comes to their political ads. As long as Zuckerberg gets his money, he does not care. That’s why he and his company just observe from the sidelines and keep quiet.