This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
Facebook has faced criticism for its handling of political ads, but the company has taken steps to increase transparency in recent years. In 2019, Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Twitter would ban all political ads, citing concerns over their impact on civic discourse.
"We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought," Mr. Dorsey said in a statement.
Facebook, on the other hand, has taken a more nuanced approach. The company publishes libraries of political ads that have run on its site, allowing users to research specific advertisers and track their spending habits. However, critics argue that this system is not transparent enough, and that it is difficult to keep track of what ads are circulating and what their impact is on audiences.
"There are significant problems with the Facebook ad library, which makes it really difficult to keep on top of what is circulating to even monitor for disinformation in ads, let alone to judge what the impact is with audiences," said Claire Wardle of First Draft, a nonprofit that researches the impact of misinformation in the media.
Despite these criticisms, Facebook has made efforts to increase transparency in its ad system. The company has also unveiled a voting information center, which aims to provide users with more data on elections, including information on how and when to vote, voter registration, and voting by mail and early voting.
"Covid is going to make it really difficult for people to understand what’s going on and how to vote," said Emily Dalton Smith, a director of social impact products at Facebook. "The voting information center will help people get necessary and accurate information for the fall elections."
Facebook's efforts to increase transparency in its ad system come as the company faces increasing scrutiny over its handling of political ads. The company has pledged to help more than four million people register to vote through its initiative, and estimates that half of the U.S. population will see information on how to vote in the November elections.
