Message from Twitter

Last week, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, he stated that Facebook would not review political ads for truthfulness, even though it reviews non-political ads. This cynical and inconsistent position has drawn a lot of criticism. Yesterday, seemingly in response, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced (via a series of tweets, of course) that Twitter will no longer carry political ads at all. Twitter’s announcement garnered some praise, especially in comparison to Facebook’s indefensible position. However, in truth, the Twitter position is lazy and even cowardly. Twitter, and Facebook, should instead adopt standards and do the work of vetting political ads.