Google Accepts Marijuana Ads Rejected By Facebook

It seems that Facebook executives haven't taken fully to the Northern California lifestyle - or at any rate, it hasn't affected their advertising policies. Google, on the other hand, is a different story. In a nut shell, Facebook rejected ads by the Just Say Now coalition for the campaign to legalize marijuana in California, while Google accepted them. The story on Huffington Post says that the text-based ads are straightforward with messages such as: "Proposition 19: Join the campaign to legalize marijuana in California." The graphic ads contain an image of a cannabis leaf. Ooh, scary! Google has run the ads and also accepted ads mentioning the controversy, though they cannot name Facebook specifically, for trademark reasons. Facebook's explanation has been a tad inconsistent. A Facebook spokesman first told HuffPost that the Just Say Now ads were banned - after initially being accepted - because they contained a pot leaf, which falls under a general ban on promoting smoking. No such ban is outlined in the advertising guidelines. The Libertarian Party was reportedly given a different reason. "We do not allow ads for marijuana or political ads for the promotion of marijuana and will not allow the creation of any further Facebook Ads for this product," a Facebook representative wrote to the Libertarian Party. After HuffPost published its story, a Facebook spokeswoman emailed a further statement. "We don't allow any images of drugs, drug paraphernalia, or tobacco in ad images on Facebook," she said. "Sometimes our automated and manual processes miss these, but our policy has always been the same. Just Say Now, the Libertarian Party, and other organizations with similar objectives can continue to advertise on Facebook using different images." So whatever the precise reason for the ban, it seems that Facebook is more prudish than Google when it comes to the advertising it hosts. Facebook is of course well within its rights to accept or reject whatever advertising it wants - this is part of its own first-amendment rights. But this doesn't stop controversy over whether Facebook is trampling on freedom of speech by turning certain advertisements down. Michael Whitney of Firedoglake.com, an organizing member of the Just Say Now coalition, told HuffPost: "Google's decision to run the ads is an affirmation that the search network is mature enough to run ads that are clearly political speech." Bruce Fein, former associate attorney general for President Reagan and a coalition member, made similar comments. "Facebook's concocted prissiness over political advocacy is more to be disparaged than imitated," he said. "Freedom of expression is made of sterner stuff. Google deserves applause for exposing Facebook to shame." And as Facebook grows in size, questions about freedom of speech on its advertising network will only increase. It's one thing for a small company to accept or reject ads according to its own ethical code but it gets uncomfortable when the company starts to hold a dominant or even monopoly position. What do you think Facebook should do? Is it time to review its policies? Or is this an example of how they are working just fine?

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Google Accepts Marijuana Ads Rejected By Facebook

Caitlin Fitzsimmons

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Caitlin Fitzsimmons