Facebook’s Politics Aren’t Aging Well

They say it is best not to talk politics among friends. But in trying to avoid the conversation, Facebook has stepped right into the thick of it. Now, some of its most valuable relationships are at risk. Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, Facebook has been no stranger to controversies ranging from election misinformation, security breaches, violent content and more. Widespread user movements have encouraged those fed up with the platform to sign off permanently. Ahead of the 2020 election, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has held firm in his belief that it isn’t the job of his platform to fact check political ads or exclude anything but the most outright harmful points of view from the social conversation. With the nation growing more divided by the minute over issues of health, race, class and gender, this political inactivism has sparked widespread controversy, even driving some employees to resign. Now advertisers are joining the fray, hitting Facebook where it really hurts. Particularly bad for Facebook, the boycott could be prolonged in the absence of more major policy change.