Trump Targeting Black Voters in 2016 Shows Facebook’s Microtargeting Is a Danger to Democracy, experts say
New data shows the Trump campaign strategically launched ads on Facebook to deter Black people from voting through a process known as microtargeting. Microtargeting is broadly not regulated in the US. While Facebook claims to have addressed problems in how its platform was used in 2016, experts disagree. Dr. Jennifer Cobbe says, “Facebook talks a lot about bad actors misusing its platform, but the truth is that the biggest bad actor on Facebook is Facebook.” And Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson says Facebook’s actions are “too little too late for the millions of Black voters who were disenfranchised four years ago.”