All of the large social platforms have content moderation policies.

No belly fat ads, no ads that discriminate based on race, color or sexual orientation, no ads that include claims debunked by third-party fact-checkers – no ads that exploit crises or controversial political issues.

No graphic content or glorification of violence, no doxxing, no threats, no child sexual exploitation, nothing that promotes terrorism or violent extremism. And on and on.

The policies sound good on paper. But policies are tested in practice.

…

Joshua Lowcock, chief digital & global brand safety officer, UM

The major platforms are frequently caught flatfooted because it appears they spend insufficient time planning for worse-case outcomes and are ill-equipped to act rapidly when the moment arrives. Whether this is a leadership failure, groupthink or lack of diversity in leadership is up for debate.

At the heart of the challenge is that most platforms misappropriate the concept of “free speech.”

Leaders at the major platforms should read Austrian philosopher Karl Popper and his work, “Open Society and Its Enemies,” to understand the intolerance paradox. We must be intolerant of intolerance. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a case in point.

Read the article on AdExchanger.