​Experts: No need to buy ads to manipulate online discussions; doubts on effects of Facebook’s tightening of political ad policy

Lianhe Zaobao, page 6

Regarding Facebook’s tightening of its political ad policy, Prof Ang Peng Hwa from NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information said that although local political parties would pay for publicity on Facebook during the election period, voters in past elections were not exposed to a lot of political information through Facebook ads, hence the new ad policy would not have much effect. Shashi Jayakumar, Head of Centre of Excellence for National Security at RSIS, said that as social media companies launch new measures, individuals or groups intending to disseminate fake information have also found a counter-measure at the same time, and are adjusting their strategy continuously.