August 17th, 2020 by Johnna Crider
While Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, believes that white supremacist-tied publications meet a rigorous standard for fact checking, Facebook’s ad policy seems to believe that clean energy is the bad guy. Sound’s a bit nutty, but it’s true.
As I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed, I noticed a post stand out from all the sparkling gem and mineral videos that I obsess over. This post was by a connection of mine and it made me sit up and say, WTF? (This sudden reaction gained an odd look from my cat.)
“Rather worryingly, Facebook has just rejected Green.TV‘s ad campaign for a climate change and young people initiative, as it ‘doesn’t comply with our Advertising Policies.’ These policies and algorithms need looking at,” wrote GreenTV’s Ade Thomas, whose story I wrote about back in June.
GreenTV is collaborating with several other organizations to launch an international EV day to highlight a digital celebration of both mobility and sustainability. That day is coming up soon (along with a followup article later this month). Ade has a passion for clean energy and solutions to help solve climate change.
As Chief Sustainability Officer at GreenTV, one thing he helps bring about is connecting people with a purpose. Creating a media company that focuses on sustainability (in the similar fashion of a network news channel), GreenTV focuses on sharing sustainability stories to help connect people with positive messages and inspire them to help create a better, more sustainable future. Media, after all, is one of the major influencers of billions worldwide. The FUD campaigns against Elon Musk and Tesla are great examples of this.
“So, you won’t take down lies or you will take down lies? I think that’s just a pretty simple yes or no.”
Complete exchange between @RepAOC @AOC and Mark Zuckerberg at today’s House Financial Services Cmte hearing.
Full video here: https://t.co/heT7Psnlp1 pic.twitter.com/0iiWtfU5gQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 23, 2019
When I had my own account, I saw ads for Trump polls with headlines that were psychologically triggering. I also saw ads from gem and mineral sites that sell fake products and people who bought those (myself included) never received the products after buying them. Fortunately, I got a refund, but many who used their banking information instead of PayPal got charged thousands when they spent less than $100. (I don’t do anything there now, since I deleted my account after a friend I’ve known for some time told me I was going to hell for wearing a mask because “your faith in God is weak.”)
Facebook has become the tabloid of the internet — filled with false information, extreme conspiracy theories (such as “wearing a mask will kill you” and “Bill Gates is trying to insert the 666 chip in your brain”). It’s pretty disturbing how Facebook has influenced many of the older generations into believing that Trump is god, that black and brown people want to take their rights away, and that hate is the true form of Christianity. On the flip side, many on the far left believe that if you wear a red hat, you are automatically a Trump supporter — never mind the hat may say something else other than MAGA.
The point I am stressing here is that Facebook has become a propaganda machine that is used to brainwash the masses. This is why I deleted my account. I don’t need that toxic energy in my life.
With such loose policies and the vast propaganda spread on Facebook in mind, I asked Ade to share his thoughts on why he thought Facebook took down his ad.
“On Facebook, my hunch is that it’s closing down ‘political ads’ ahead of the U.S. election. My strong conviction is that climate change is a scientific issue, pegged to the measurement of CO2 emissions, and in no way a ‘political’ matter.’” Ade said. I fully agree with him on that second part. As for the first part, I don’t think that is the case. Many of my close friends still use Facebook and I get texts from them about political ads, usually leading to this question, “Did you see that Facebook ad about Kamala Harris?”
However, Facebook is reportedly considering banning political ads before the election. Also, even though Ade’s ad is not political, everything from Elon Musk to clean energy to food to the coronavirus to wearing a mask has become politicized.
Around the world on #InternationalYouthDay, thousands of young people are taking climate action and sharing their…
Posted by Green.TV on Thursday, August 13, 2020
No matter how popular the #DeleteFacebook movement is, more than one billion people are on Facebook. I am a jewelry artisan and many of my friends and customers use it. I had a jewelry page. From that perspective, it was hard to delete Facebook. However, as the algorithm changed to favor those paying for ad space, I became more and more convinced that Facebook wasn’t for me anyway. I’d post something on my jewelry page and get 93 notifications from Facebook about buying an ad. My friends and customers would tell me they never saw my post. However, that incident that I mentioned before is what really led me to delete my account permanently. Too many of my friends are falling victim to the brainwashing and there is nothing I can do to stop it.
Some of my friends are conservatives (most hate Trump, though) and others are liberals who think Elon Musk is a billionaire who got his money from robbing people. And when you present the facts to some people on either side, they either say fake news or bootlickers. So, yeah, like an infected limb, I cut that out of my life. And Facebook, with its inane ad policies that favor hate, bigotry, and white supremacy — because they pay more — is an infected limb that America needs to cut off.
Hey, Elon, if you’re reading this, buy out Myspace and call it Marspace. 😁
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About the Author
Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem, and mineral collector, member of the International Gem Society, and a Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised her in 2018 to “Believe in Good.”
Tesla is one of many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter