Block Misleading Political Ads on Facebook With This Browser Extension
2020 is going to be a crazy year for US politics, but while the presidential debate and the protracted impeachment of President Trump may be top talking points (for now), we all know where the real political discourse is taking place: Facebook.
Unfortunately, much of this reasoning is fueled by both disinformation and misinformation. Part of the problem lies in the way Facebook handles political ads. Unlike other types of ads or political content, Facebook does not apply third-party fact checking to political ads posted by candidates. Facebook’s own employees have spoken out against this stance , and several presidential candidates have even run ads with blatantly false information in an attempt to show how dangerous Facebook policies can be, but there is no indication yet that the company will make any changes.
Now, if you’re like me, the threat of seeing constant controversy and misleading ads cluttering your schedule is enough to completely ditch Facebook – or at least impose strict restrictions on yourself .
However, for those who still want to use the platform but avoid political ads, fake news, or general guerrilla plague, there aren’t many options in Facebook settings. Of course, you can customize your advertising information , and you can block, unsubscribe or remove from friends any person or page that you no longer want to see, but these options are only so much.
Instead, I would suggest trying the third-party FB Purity browser extension, which is available for desktop versions of Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Safari, Opera, and more (although not for mobile devices, unfortunately).
FB Purity adds a new menu to Facebook’s user interface, filled with customization options that change what you do and don’t see on the site. For example, you can turn off automatic video playback, hide entire menus, and even change how notifications are displayed.
Most importantly for those looking to block political bullshit, FB Purity can hide ads, block posts using keywords, and apply stricter filtering to news posts appearing in your timeline, among many other settings . You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the extension before diving into it, but the interface is mostly self-explanatory.
I was able to trim the Facebook UI a bit with FB Purity. In fact, as someone who is no longer logged in, I was surprised at how much cleaner and nicer Facebook looks even with the default FB Purity settings applied. It basically removed all the right-side menus and ads – and that was before I added a few keywords to my blacklist.
Ultimately, I still think that simply avoiding Facebook – or at least just not doing political posting – is the best course of action, but I’m sure FB Purity can help as the 2020 political uproar gets louder. .. At least for some time. Facebook is really good at bypassing other ad and content blocking extensions, so it’s possible that FB Purity won’t always work. That said, unless Facebook changes its policies or adds more ways for users to customize their experience, this is probably your best chance at the moment.