Facebook defends policy allowing false political ads
CEO: Let people decide credibility
Facebook defended its policy of not removing misleading or bogus political ads Thursday following criticism from congressional Democrats who said it could lead to election interference and voter suppression.
House Democrats, including Maxine Waters of California and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, denounced the policy at a hearing Wednesday in which founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook would “probably” allow candidates to buy ads making false claims about their opponents.
“In a democracy, people should decide what is credible, not tech companies,” the company wrote in a statement emailed to the Associated Press on Thursday. “That’s why — like other internet platforms and broadcasters — we don’t fact check ads from politicians.”
Facebook’s policy is indeed similar to those at other internet platforms, reflecting the reluctance of big tech companies to police political content.
Zuckerberg said Facebook will remove political advertisements that call for violence or seek to suppress voting. Facebook also said political ads from political action committees or advocacy groups would be subject to fact checks.
In addition, the company said Thursday that all ads are subject to the company’s community standards and ad policies.
“Given the sensitivity around political ads, we have considered whether we should ban them altogether,” the company said. “But political ads are important for local candidates, up-and-coming challengers, and advocacy groups that use our platform to reach voters and their communities.”
Zuckerberg’s defense of the policy on Wednesday failed to satisfy Waters, who said it would give “anyone Facebook labels a politician a platform to lie, mislead and misinform the American people, which will also allow Facebook to sell more ads. The impact of this will be a massive voter suppression effort.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked Zuckerberg whether Facebook would allow a politician to plant intentionally false ads claiming their opponent supported something they did not. Zuckerberg responded “I think probably.”