Facebook considers a political ad ban for election, pleasing no one

Civil rights groups were swift in their criticism of a plan being weighed by Facebook Inc. to halt political advertising before the U.S. election, saying the ban would do little to address rampant hate speech and misinformation on the social network. An ad blackout could even exacerbate voter suppression, rights advocates said. “@Facebook claims to care about free expression but would rather restrict political speech altogether than take responsibility for curbing hate speech, voter suppression and disinformation,” tweeted Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change. “This is nothing but a distraction,” added Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of...