Facebook tightens rules for U.S. political advertisers ahead of 2020 election
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Facebook is tightening its political ad rules in the United States, it said on Wednesday, requiring new disclosures for its site and photo-sharing platform Instagram ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November 2020.
The social media giant is introducing a "confirmed organization" label for U.S. political advertisers who show government-issued credentials to demonstrate their legitimacy.
All advertisers running ads on politics or social issues will also have to post their contact information, even if they are not seeking the official label.
Advertisers must comply by mid-October or risk having their ads cut off.
Under scrutiny from regulators since Russia used social media platforms to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Facebook has been rolling out ad transparency tools country by country since last year.
Since May 2018, Facebook has required political advertisers in the United States to put a "paid for by" disclaimer on their ads. But the company said some had used misleading disclaimers or tried to register as organizations which did not exist.
"In 2018 we did see evidence of misuse in these disclaimers and so this is our effort to strengthen the process," said Sarah Schiff, product manager at Facebook.
Last year, Vice News journalists managed to place ads on behalf of figures and groups including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and "Islamic State." Just last week, Facebook banned conservative news outlet The Epoch Times from advertising on the platform after it used different pages to push pro-Trump ads.
Paid Facebook ads have become a major tool for political campaigns and other organizations to target voters.
President Donald Trump's re-election campaign has spent about $9.6 million this year on ads on the site, making him the top spender among 2020 candidates, according to Bully Pulpit Interactive, a Democratic firm that tracks digital ad spending.
Last year, Facebook began requiring political advertisers to submit a U.S. mailing address and identity document. Under the new rules, they will also have to supply a phone number, business email and website.
To get a "confirmed organization" label, advertisers must submit a Federal Election Commission ID number, tax-registered organization ID number, or government website domain matching an official email.
Facebook has continuously revamped its policies around political advertising, which differ by country.
In 2018, it launched an online library of political ads, although the database has been criticized by researchers for being poorly maintained and failing to provide useful ad targeting information.
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It's a start....
And I forgot to add:
"here come all the free-speechers claiming their First Amendment rights are being violated!"
It's a start...
Since NT has a few prolific Russian/corporate/dark money propaganda bots, maybe Perrie could do the same.
I won't name names, but it's quite obvious to many of us who they are.
Back in the early vine days, we had many productive conversations about many topics.
Then the trolls/Russian bots and dark money propagandists moved in, turned it into a combat zone and ruined it.
The same thing has happened here with the usual suspects.
These trolls are trained to take over sites like this one by the fascist Heartland Institute.
Actual classroom classes with tests in how to promote far right wing extremism online.
I don't know that the ads themselves are a problem, really. Most people know a political ad when they see one, and can figure out who paid for it.
The rumors and fake memes are more of an issue, IMO, and I don't know that there's really a way to combat those.
So, they're still going to happily take money from absolutely anyone. They just have to have "contact information" whatever that means.
Meanwhile, will anyone pay attention to - or care about - their "confirmed organization" label? I honestly can't imagine why 99.9% of people would spend even one second looking for that label.
It doesn't sound like this is going to change much.