Case Study
Civil Rights Groups Criticize Facebook for Censoring Police Shootings
A coalition of 40 tech and racial justice civil rights groups slammed Facebook CEO Mark...+ Read more
Facebook has repeatedly faced criticism for censoring discussions of marijuana legalization. In 2010 and again in 2012, Facebook blocked ads supporting marijuana legalization voter initiatives and drug policy reform measures. The issue re-emerged in 2015 when the company “permanently deleted” an account for discussing New York’s newly-enacted medical marijuana law. The ongoing missteps have undermined Facebook’s effort to position itself as a key platform for reaching “a huge potential voter pool” and led to criticism that its handling of the issue “amounts to censorship.”