Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Thursday launched an overhaul of how it handles paid political advertisements, giving a concession to U.S. lawmakers who have threatened to regulate the world’s largest social network over secretive ads that run during election campaigns.
The company also said it would turn over to congressional investigators the 3,000 political ads that it says were likely purchased by Russian entities during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company, for the first time, would now make it possible for anyone to see any political ads that run on Facebook, no matter whom they target.
Facebook will also demand that political advertisers disclose who is paying for the advertisements, a requirement that under U.S. law applies to political ads on television but not on social media.
“We will work with others to create a new standard for transparency in online political ads,” Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg, broadcasting live on Facebook from company headquarters in Menlo Park, California, said the changes would help address concerns that governments including Russia are using Facebook ads to meddle in other countries’ elections.
Earlier this month, Facebook said an internal review had shown that an operation likely based in Russia spent $100,000 on 3,000 Facebook ads promoting divisive messages in the months before and after last year’s U.S. presidential election. The company initially declined to turn over details on the ads to Congress.
U.S. congressional investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller are examining alleged Russian election interference, which Moscow has denied.
Investigators are interested in other companies as well. Representatives for Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) are set to meet next week with staff from the Senate Intelligence Committee in relation to inquiries into the 2016 election. (Reuters)
