Facebook Increases Transparency With ‘Paid for by’ Label on Election Ads
Following Twitter’s lead, social site cracks down on political advertising
Sean Burch | October 27, 2017 @ 11:57 AM
Last Updated: December 18, 2020 @ 7:13 AM
Facebook is aiming to make its massive ad business more transparent, announcing on Friday political advertisers will face an increased level of verification when running election-related campaigns.
Starting with U.S. federal elections, Facebook will add a “paid for by” tag to political ads, allowing users to click for more details on the advertiser. “Like other ads on Facebook, you will also be able to see an explanation of why you saw that particular ad,” said Facebook VP of Ads Rob Goldman in a post on the decision.
“We remain deeply committed to helping protect the integrity of the electoral process on Facebook,” continued Goldman. “And we will continue to work with our industry partners, lawmakers and our entire community to better ensure transparency and accountability in our advertising products.”
For advertisers that fail to comply with Facebook’s new rules, the social network will use artificial intelligence to verify details behind political campaigns. The update will roll out “starting next month,” with Facebook planning on extending it to countries outside the U.S. as well.
In a post on his personal page, CEO Mark Zuckerberg built on the company’s new policies, adding it wanted to complete its rollout ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. Zuckerberg added the company is “adding thousands of people to our review teams,” to go along with its AI tools, to monitor ads.
“When someone buys political ads on TV or other media, they’re required by law to disclose who paid for them,” said Zuckerberg in the post. “Now we’re bringing Facebook to an even higher standard of transparency.”
At the same time, Facebook is adding another layer of verification to its Pages, with users being able to click “View Ads” on a particular Page and see the ads its running.
Facebook’s move comes one day after Twitter banned advertisements from state-funded Russian outlets Sputnik and RT.
Company execs are expected to meet with congressional investigators next Tuesday — the same day it reports its third quarter earnings.
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.