World News – US Republican activists bypass Facebook policies ahead of Georgia runoff

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As the Georgia runoff draws nearer, Facebook’s messy political ad rules have created new opportunities for activists and political groups seeking to spread disinformation. In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s elections, Republican super-PACs used Facebook to advertise in the critical final days leading up to the state’s special election on Tuesday, Jan.. January, spreading disinformation about voters in Georgia.

In one case, the Republican Party falsely accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris of conspiring to remove President-elect Joe Biden from office in a Facebook ad according to the Washington Post. The Senate Leadership Fund has also run false ads suggesting that Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff would « disappoint the police » despite the candidate’s refusal to support such a position.

The Republican super-PAC American Crossroads has run several dishonest advertisements about Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock in the past few weeks, according to Popular Information. In one example, the PAC posted an ad from Warnock that read « God damn America » ​​and made it look like he was making a un-American statement. However, the clip is from a 2013 speech in which Warnock featured a well-known speech by Rev. . Jeremiah Wright.

Facebook’s political advertising policy has also led to misleading fundraising drives outside of Georgia. In the week leading up to the November presidential election, Facebook stopped the ability for advertisers to submit new political ads for approval. At 16. On December 1st, Facebook began allowing authorized advertisers to serve ads for the Georgia runoff. With most of the other political advertisements still closed, lawmakers like Sen. . Ted Cruz (R-TX) has run ads allegedly raising money for Georgia Republican Senate candidates. But The Daily Beast reported last week that the money from those ads went directly to Cruz. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. . Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. . It was also found that Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) ran a fundraiser through this advertising gap.

With control of the Senate in balance, the runoff seems like dead heat. Almost all of the definitive surveys predict a 1 percent margin between candidates.

Georgia, United States Senate, Republican Party, two-round system