Elections & Democracy, Free Expression
CDT Joined Call for Facebook to Rescind Cease and Desist Demand for Ad Observer
On October 28, 2020, the Center for Democracy & Technology joined an open letter calling for Facebook to rescind its cease and desist demand for the New York University’s Ad Observer plugin, a tool that allows Facebook users to volunteer to contribute information about the ads and ad targeting they encounter on the platform.
A portion of that letter is pasted below, and you can find the full letter + the list of signatories here.
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Voting has already begun in one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history. More than ever before in American politics, the members of the public need to know who is trying to influence them and how.
Yet at this critical moment for the country, Facebook has threatened to shut down an independent research effort studying political ad targeting on the platform. In a cease + desist letter, Facebook directed New York University to shut down its Ad Observer browser plug-in, a tool that allows Facebook users to volunteer to contribute information about the ads and ad targeting they encounter on the platform. Facebook also demanded that the project delete all the data it has collected.
Ad Observer allows journalists and researchers to better understand the political misinformation and manipulation that spreads daily on your platform. It has been a resource for substantive reporting on the upcoming election, used by dozens of newsrooms, from Florida to Utah, from outlets like the Houston Chronicle and Missouri Independent to Buzzfeed and The Markup.
Facebook claims its motive for threatening Ad Observer is that browser plugins and extensions, like Ad Observer, could violate Facebook users’ privacy. But Ad Observer only collects information about the ads people see, not personal posts or users’ personal information. What is true is that the Ad Observatory project has revealed serious flaws in Facebook’s advertising transparency policies.
