A New Facebook Feature, Users Can Turn Off Annoying Political Ads

JAKARTA - Currently, Facebook users can choose not to see ads that contain politics on the social media network. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new feature today, as the United States (US) prepares for the 2020 presidential election.

“For those of you who have already made up their minds and just want the election to be over, we heard from you - so we also introduced the ability to turn off viewing political advertising. We will still remind you to vote, "said Zuckerberg as quoted by the New York Times, Wednesday, June 17.

Zuckerberg's decision came after Facebook drew criticism for its policy of allowing politicians to run political advertisements containing false information about its services. The criticism came from a number of activists and Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden.

In contrast, the social media network Twitter, has banned political advertising on its platform since October 2019.

When the new Facebook feature is used, users will be able to turn off the advertisements of political, election and social issues of political candidates, Super PACs and other organizations that have political disclaimers paid for by them.

Facebook started rolling out this feature to a handful of users today, and it will be available to all users in the US over the next few weeks. This feature will be extended to many countries that have regulations on political advertising.

When a user comes across one of the advertisements, there will be an option to turn off all political ads forever. Users can also head to Facebook and Instagram's settings feature to turn it off. In addition, users who have decided to turn off these ads can report any ad they think should not be shown.

Furthermore, Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook will help 4 million people to vote through the Voting Information Center.

Information Center voting will be displayed at the top of the News Feed on social media Instagram and Facebook. The new options will include information on how and when to vote, how to register, how to vote by mail and how to opt in early.

"I believe Facebook has a responsibility not only to prevent voter repression that disproportionately targets people of color, but to actively support the engagement, registration and participation of well-informed voters," explained Zuckerberg.