Facebook’s new advertising policy empowers authoritarian regimes

As a marketer for independent documentary films, Facebook is my go-to platform for advertising our studio’s latest project. A year ago, this process was simple: set up trailer ads and start getting views.

But under Facebook’s new advertising policy, if advertised content is about “social issues, elections or politics,” you’re in a bind. In that case, you need approval from inside the country you want to advertise in. As a result, Facebook’s new advertising policy has turned the platform into an agent of censorship for authoritarian regimes.