Katie Notopoulos, a BuzzFeed News Reporter, posted an article on February 14 titiled, “Instagram Influencer Marketing Is Already A Nightmare. Political Ads Will Make It A Shitshow.” In the article Notopoulos discusses that Facebook will not be regulating political by influencers the same way it would a political ads on Facebook and Instagram. This caused me to question the ethical decision in allowing influencers to basically canvas for political candidates without monitoring the amount of exposure each candidate would be receiving.
A pro of this topic could potentially be an increase in voters. Influencers have a reach on both Instagram and Facebook that politicians just do not have. So, the exposure to politics could lead a new generation to vote. Influencers are also meant to influence. So, If the government, or Facebook, controls what they can and cannot post, this would affect their livelihood. One might argue that if Facebook is going to regulate political posts from influencers, then where do we draw the line? Should Facebook then have to regulate any posts about political or presidential elections? Or only if you have a certain amount of followers?
A con of this topic would be the the naivety of new voters and the likelihood of them voting for who their favorite artist or influencer is voting for, just because. There is already an issue within this country to fact-check news sites, so what is the probability that young or new voters will do their own research on presidential candidates instead of just listening to whatever they read on social media? They could be led to a filter of biases every time they log on to Facebook or Instagram.
After the 2018 Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, I think it is important for Facebook to provide clear and easy to understand disclosures of advertisements of any kind. Notopoulos’ article does a great job of explaining how influencers can post sponsored advertisements with different variations of very subtle disclosures. She explains, “But enforcement has been pretty hands-off. Over the years, the FTC has taken action against brands and advertising agencies, but never individuals putting up posts. The closest any influencer has gotten to being punished came in 2017 when, prompted by the advocacy group Truth in Advertising, the FTC sent polite “educational letters” to remind a handful of celebrities and influencers how to properly disclose an ad. When several of those celebrities like Amber Rose and Lindsay Lohan continued to do undisclosed Instagram ads, they got second, slightly more chastising letters asking them to tell the FTC whether or not the posts were ads. No influencer, not even a Kardashian, has ever faced official action or penalty by the FTC.”
An ethical solution for this issue would be the FTC monitoring sponsored posts and ensuring all social media advertisements follow their guidelines. I believe that influencers are allowed to post whatever they want on their personal social media accounts. But, when it comes to political ads, influencers should have to properly disclose the advertisements just like any other sponsored post.
Connection to Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America by Christopher Wylie: I believe this blog post’s topic relates more to Mindf*ck than our text book because of the discussion of ethical decisions when it comes to social advertisements, specifically on Facebook. I think this is such a pertinent issue due to the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal and because it is an election year.
Media, Ethics and Society Blog 