Facebook said Wednesday it would continue accepting US political ads, finishing a ban imposed after the November presidential election to stem misinformation. The main social network said “political, electoral, and social issue advertisements in the United States” would be permissible again from Thursday.
“We put this temporary ban in place after the November 2020 election to avoid confusion or abuse following Election Day,” a Facebook blog entry said.
“Unlike other platforms, we require authorization and transparency not just for political and electoral advertisements, but also for social issue advertisements, and our systems do not distinguish between these categories.”
Facebook noticed that political and social issue ads will require check and disclaimers clarifying that the messages are “paid for by” a particular individual or group.
It will also keep the messages in its promotion library to enable researchers and others to see them. Facebook added it would “use the coming month to take a closer look at how these advertisements work on our service to see where further changes may be merited.”
Facebook’s move followed a similar one by Google last search.
The two big platform, which rule digital advertisement, suspended paid political messages in part to stem the flow of hoaxes and misinformation, notably from those rejecting the results of the election, won by Joe Biden over Donald Trump. Facebook in December part of the way lifted the ban to allow advertisements notices relating to Georgia’s special Senate runoff election in January.
