Facebook Allegedly Violating Seattle City Law About Election Ads
In Seattle, there is a city law that requires all companies to disclose the identities of the people who pay for political campaign advertisements. Seattle's election authority accused Facebook of not following this law.
This is the first-ever attempt to manage U.S. campaign ads on the internet. Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission Executive Director Wayne Barnett said in a statement obtained by Reuters that "Facebook is not in compliance" with this until it discloses details about their disbursements in the last year's Seattle city elections.
Barnett continued to say that the penalties of Facebook could reach $5,000 per advertising buy if the company does not release the required data. Facebook stated that they had sent the needed information over to Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.
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"Facebook is a strong supporter of transparency in political advertising. In response to a request from the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission we were able to provide relevant information," said Facebook vice president Will Castleberry in another statement obtained by Reuters.
However, Barnett said the information was not enough as there were no specific data sent in. After being prompted by Congress, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page last September that the company would require disclosure about who funded the campaign ads.
"I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity," Zuckerberg said. "The integrity of our elections is fundamental to democracy around the world. That's why we've built teams dedicated to working on election integrity and preventing governments from interfering in the elections of other nations."
According to Zuckerberg's post, Facebook had shut down fake accounts that influenced elections from all over the world, but it was improbable that they would be able to "stop all interference."
Zuckerberg said they would continue to cooperate with the U.S. government for the ongoing investigations about political ads. He added that Facebook is actively working on their tech and security to maintain the integrity of elections.
