How Ontarians are being targeted on Facebook with the provincial election under way - 2018-05-13
How Ontarians are being targeted on Facebook with the provincial election under way May 13, 2018,
To many Ontarians, it felt like the province's spring election began long ago. But as the writ period officially began last week, the volume of campaign-related advertising on social media shot upward.
As it did, some telling trends took shape – from Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives placing an emphasis on very specific demographics, to the Liberals toning down their attacks on Mr. Ford even as at least one Liberal-friendly third party stepped up such attacks, to Andrea Horwath's NDP getting a big assist from energized union allies.
The Globe and Mail was able to identify these and other developments through its continuing partnership with the U.S. journalism non-profit ProPublica to track political ads being targeted to voters on Facebook. The more Ontarians install a browser extension designed by ProPublica (available here, along with a full explanation of privacy protections), the more we are able to get a full picture of a modern campaign in which micro-targeting has largely replaced traditional mass communication.
