This is not the first time that Facebook will be criticized for its political adverts.
The U.K. plans to introduce its own digital service tax in April. The U.K. believes that Facebook is avoiding taxes in the European Union. They argue that digital taxes should be based on where digital activities are done and not where the company’s headquarters is located.
However, European countries have proposed new tax rules. The British government will be charging a 2 percent tax on all revenues from search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces. France is charging 3 percent.
Also, Trade officials are saying that firms of U.S. origin are the major target, which is unfair. The Organisation for Economic and Development, OECD, proposes that tax changes. Hence, this change will make global firms pay more tax. The proposals enable the government power to tax big companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
In a conference in Munich, the Facebook founder, Mr. Zuckerberg, made few comments on the tax in the U.K. He said that he understands there’s Europe’s frustration about taxes on tech companies.
Furthermore, he went on to say, they (tech companies) want tax reform, and he’s happy that OECD is looking into the situation. Tech companies want OECD to have a successful process so that they can have a reliable and stable system moving forward.
Also, he stated that they would accept the implication, which means they will pay more tax. Even, they will be paying it under a different framework at different places.
Facebook imbibes tighter Regulations
Mark Zuckerberg urges stricter regulations to regulate harmful online content. Facebook is under pressure to prevent the spread of false information via its platform. The American company faces criticism for its policy on political advertising.
Zuckerberg says that the company will not include political posts by social media stars on its database. The company’s new political advertising rule states: ads will contain the name of the person that paid for the advertisement. Also, a record of the advertisement will be in a publicly searchable database for seven years.
Zuckerberg urges governments to create new policies that would be a blend of the past policy and a new one. Facebook employs 35,000 people to review content and manage security challenges. Besides, over a million Facebook accounts are fake, and most users use fake Accounts to spread false information.
Malevolent users mask their location, posing a huge challenge of determining the source of information spread by such users. The team of 35,000 people will help prevent the spread of false information by deleting all fake Accounts.
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Influencers Memes Are Not Political Ads
Sponsored memes are exempted from the kinds of information to filter on Facebook. Mike Bloomberg, a United States Democratic Presidential aspirant, is the first to use this technique.
In case of a situation where a politician pays to improve their public image via social media platforms, such posts will be in the public advertisement library. However, posts written in an influencer’s voice will not be classified as a political advertisement.
Zuckerberg told the BBC that there’s a difference between branded content and advertising. However, in either case, people must identify paid content when they see one on Facebook’s platforms.
He continued by saying, Facebook is letting political candidates in the U.S. run their content with creators. However, these candidates need authorization, and the creators will declare any paid partnership. Besides, they will use the company’s branded content tools to make any declaration.
Mr. Bloomberg is working with meme 2020, a large influencers company, to produce memes that will boost his image before the younger generation.
@GrapeJuiceBoys, an account that posts memes on black culture, has refused to assist Mr. Bloomberg in his quest because they do not endorse the candidate.
@Tank.Sinatra, alongside other notable social media influencers, is supporting Mr. Bloomberg’s course.
