Stuff

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    What's Hot
    UEFA Champions League Final

    This year’s UEFA Champions League final will be broadcast on Showmax Pro

    May 26, 2022
    Ford

    35% of Ford’s Silverton plant is now powered by the might of the sun

    May 26, 2022

    Dyson’s future plans for a household robot will probably secure at least a few fans

    May 26, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud
    Trending
    • This year’s UEFA Champions League final will be broadcast on Showmax Pro
    • 35% of Ford’s Silverton plant is now powered by the might of the sun
    • Dyson’s future plans for a household robot will probably secure at least a few fans
    • A new Google Docs feature will let you save time for things that really matter, like procrastination
    • Stressed? Go and play this free rock-stacking simulator for a while
    • City of Joburg intends to spend more than R316 million to make Johannesburg smarter
    • Tech firms are making computer chips with human cells – is it ethical?
    • The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is the company’s latest flagship gaming headset
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Stuff Stuff
    • News
      • App News
      • Business News
      • Camera News
      • Gaming News
      • Headphone News
      • Industry News
      • Internet News
      • Laptops News
      • Motoring News
      • Other Tech News
      • Phone News
      • Tablet News
      • Technology News
      • TV News
      • Wearables News
    • Reviews
      • Camera Reviews
      • Featured Reviews
      • Game Reviews
      • Headphone Reviews
      • Laptop Reviews
      • Other Tech Reviews
      • Phone Reviews
      • Tablet Reviews
      • Wearables Reviews
    • Columns
    • Stuff Guides
    • Podcasts & Videos
      • Videos
      • Stuffed
      • Stuffing Around
      • Tech Byte
      • T2S2
    • Win
    • Subscribe
      • Print
      • Digital
        • Google Play
        • iTunes
        • Download
        • Zinio
    • Stuff Shop
      • Shop Now
      • My Account
      • Downloads
    • Contact Us
      • Get In Touch
      • Advertise
    0 Shopping Cart
    Stuff
    Home » News » App News » At last, some good news about transparency from Facebook
    App News

    At last, some good news about transparency from Facebook

    Nick CowenBy Nick CowenJuly 1, 2021Updated:October 1, 2021No Comments5 Mins Read
    Facebook Election Politics Transparency
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Facebook has announced a piece of very good news for South Africans. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. Regular readers may think we have it in for Mark Zuckerburg’s platform, but that isn’t true; we at Stuff simply write stories we think our readership would like to know about – and let’s face it, Facebook hasn’t had exactly the best year in this regard.

    So it’s rather refreshing to be able to write that this week the social media giant has expanded both its tools and policies to provide users with ‘unprecedented’ transparency and functionality when it comes to ads sold around politics and elections. These apparently have been rolling out to loads of countries but that list now includes South Africa, which is useful, since we have elections coming up this year (the COVID-19 pandemic allowing).

    Facebook’s new regs

    Starting this week, Facebook is going to insist on a new set of regulations for ads around elections or politics in South Africa (and Zambia).

    To wit, anyone running an advert about political figures, political parties, elections or campaigns the promote voting will have to go through an ad authorisation process.

    They’ll have to verify their identity with a government-issued photo ID and confirm their location in South Africa (or any country they’re running an ad in).

    Furthermore, advertisers are now required to  provide more information about the person or organisation responsible for the ad, by placing “Paid for by” disclaimers on these ads. This by the way isn’t limited to the financial backing. This list also includes any person creating, modifying, publishing, or pausing ads that reference ads about elections or politics.

    These ads will also be entered into Facebook’s Ad Library for seven years.

    Users who don’t want to see these ads at all also have an expanded set of tools they can use. To adjust your ad topic preferences, you simply need to:

    1. Visit Ad Preferences then click Ad Topics.
    2. Under the list of Ad Topics, you’ll see a list of topics including Social Issues, Elections or Politics.
    3. Across from Social Issues, Elections or Politics, click See Fewer.

    Users can only turn off electoral and political ads with disclaimers by clicking on the top of these ads in their feed.

    “We believe that more transparency leads to increased accountability and responsibility for both Facebook and advertisers, which is good for people and businesses alike,” says Facebook’s Head of Public Policy for Southern Africa, Nomonde Gongxeka-Seopa.

    “Political ads play an important role in every election. Our work to help protect elections is never done, but we believe changes like these continue to move us in the right direction.”

    A double-edged sword

    And here comes the catch – and no, it’s not a catch on the social media platform’s part. No, the catch has more to do with human nature.

    While it’s great to know the identities of individuals, companies and other entities that pay for political ads — in fact, you could argue it’s vital to our democracy — there is a downside to this, and it’s wrapped in the… shall we say… less than sterling track record of some of this country’s politicians when it comes to corruption.

    Picture the scene: Entity A decides it’s less than enamoured with the ruling party (let’s call it Party A). Entity A spends a boatload of cash to promote Party B (or C or D) as it feels that its policies are more in line with their liking. Party A wins the election and notes (thanks to Facebook’s new processes around political and election ads) that Entity A not only didn’t back it, but actually gave financial backing to its opponent(s).

    Now that Party A is in charge of deciding on which entities are in line for tenders, contracts, spectrum and more, it doesn’t feel inclined to help out Entity A (or its consumers or dependents, should it have any).

    This, incidentally, is not Facebook’s fault and the social media company should be praised for this move towards transparency. It really does seem to be doing the best that it can for South Africans with what it has available in this regard. If only the same could be said for all the politicians in this country.

    That have been said, this is how politics and political backing works in loads of other countries and the benefits of transparency in this regard far outweigh the downsides.

    Incidentally, Stuff doesn’t have the money to buy ads to support any political parties and we wouldn’t even if we did. Politics is a dog-eat-dog world and you ain’t gonna find us in a can of Paw Lickin’ Chicken!

    • For more details on how to get authorised to run social issues, electoral, and political ads, click here and select your country from the drop down list. You can also learn more about authorisations in this digital one-sheeter and step-by-step video.

    Data elections Facebook featured politics social media transparency
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    Nick Cowen
    • Website

    I've been writing about tech and games for around 20 years. Been playing games since I was tall enough to reach the controls on an arcade machine. Old enough to remember when games weren't something people yelled at each other about.

    Related Posts

    UEFA Champions League Final

    This year’s UEFA Champions League final will be broadcast on Showmax Pro

    May 26, 2022
    Ford

    35% of Ford’s Silverton plant is now powered by the might of the sun

    May 26, 2022

    Dyson’s future plans for a household robot will probably secure at least a few fans

    May 26, 2022

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    In The Mag
    Stuff April-May 2022 Latest Issue

    In This Issue – The Smart Home (April-May 2022) Issue

    By Brett VenterApril 4, 20220

    It’s time for a brand-new issue of your favourite tech publication. The April-May- 2022 edition…

    2021 Wish List
    wish list Stuff Wish List 2021

    Stuff Wish List: for the tech impaired

    By Duncan PikeDecember 22, 20210

    Are you from the time before being glued to a smartphone was considered normal? Here’s…

    Wishlist DIY Stuff tech

    Stuff Wish List: for the DIY Diehard

    December 21, 2021
    Wish List Gearhead

    Stuff Wish List: For the petrol-soaked gearhead

    December 20, 2021
    outsiders

    Stuff Wish List: for the Outsiders

    December 17, 2021

    Latest Video

    Sonos

    SONOS Roam SL unboxing by Toby Shapshak

    March 30, 2022
    Mini Cooper

    The Mini Cooper SE Electric with Toby Shapshak

    March 18, 2022
    MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

    MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

    March 16, 2022
    Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Unboxing

    Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra unboxing with Toby Shapshak

    March 16, 2022
    Contact

    South Africa's Consumer Tech News Hub

    General: [email protected]
    Subscriptions: [email protected] or 087 353 1291
    Editorial: 072 735 2614
    Sales: 083 375 2418

    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud

    Subscribe to Updates

    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy & POPI
    • My account
    © 2022 Stuff Group. Designed by Chronon.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.