Decisions by Google and Facebook to ban certain advertising related to the abortion referendum raise major questions about corporate policy and national sovereignty. Or could companies such as Google and Facebook now ban political campaigns everywhere, in particular those bankrolled directly from abroad unless somehow “verified”? Bans on political advertising are not new. There vast sums are spent on highly personalised and controversial political advertising, some of it by pressure groups on specific issues. Given that advertising matters, and to judge by posters on lamp-posts during general elections few politicians argue otherwise, what if this ban on advertising by Google and Facebook alters the outcome of the referendum?

Source: The Irish Times May 11, 2018 00:22 UTC