Comment on Facebook political ads announcement
Jan. 9, 2020PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OPEN KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION
EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE
COMMENT ON FACEBOOK POLITICAL ADS ANNOUNCEMENT
Facebook has announced that it won't change its policies on fact-checking political adverts or limit microtargeting.
The social media giant declined to follow action taken by Twitter and Google, and instead said it will expand transparency around political ads and give users more control over what they see.
Google previously said it is limiting political ads audience targeting to more general categories, and Twitter has banned political ads.
Catherine Stihler, chief executive of the Open Knowledge Foundation, said: “There is growing public demand for greater transparency around political adverts, with social media giants accepting money for ads which can contain disinformation.
“That has prompted positive changes from Google and Twitter, and Facebook’s promise of greater transparency is recognition of the need for change.
“However, it is deeply disappointing that Facebook has declined to change its policies on fact-checking or microtargeting.
“I would urge the company to reconsider this and work towards a fair, free and open future.
“But ultimately the long-term solution to this does not involve self-regulation, and requires analogue electoral laws to be updated for the digital age.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
https://about.fb.com/news/2020/01/political-ads/
Contact: Alan Roden at [email protected] or +44 (0)7753 904 531
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