Facebook will share political ads linked to a Russian troll farm with US Congress, in a reversal of its earlier claim that it could not share the ads because of its obligation to protect user privacy.
Photo: Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the change today on Facebook Live, as well as several other changes the company is making to the way it sells political ads. “I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That’s not what we stand for,” Zuckerberg said.
However, he also noted that Facebook couldn’t prevent all election interference activities on its platform. “I wish I could tell you that we’re going to be able to stop all interference but that just wouldn’t be realistic,” he explained. “We can make it harder, we can make it much harder, and that’s what we’re going to focus on doing.”
The ads will not become public unless Congress chooses to release them. Sen Mark Warner had previously chastised Facebook for not releasing the ads to the public. “The public deserves to look at that content,” Warner said.
Facebook representatives are currently working with Congressional leadership to draw up a schedule for handing over the ads and related information, Facebook’s general counsel Colin Stretch said in a blog post.
Zuckerberg also addressed Congressional calls for Facebook to be more transparent about how political ads on the platform are funded. Democrats in the US House and Senate sent a letter to the US Federal Election Commission yesterday asking for guidance on requiring social media companies to disclose political ad purchasers.
Political ads on Facebook will now disclose the advertiser who paid for them, Zuckerberg explained. Users will also be able to visit an advertiser’s page and see who the ads were targeted to, ostensibly providing some visibility into how political advertisers target specific swing states or issues.
Zuckerberg said Facebook will also hire more staff to work on election security, collaborate with election commissions worldwide, and share threat intelligence with other social media companies.