Facebook’s latest response to the ongoing debate over how it should handle political advertising and false information in political ads and content is putting more controls in the hands of users. (Adweek)
Facebook said Thursday that it will continue to allow targeting of ads to certain groups of people but will introduce several new features, including one where users can limit political and social issue ads they see in their feeds, and another that will make it easier for users to look up specific spots. (Deadline)
Facebook said in a blog post that it considered limiting microtargeting for political ads. But it said it learned about the importance of such practices for reaching “key audiences” after talking with political campaigns from both major parties in the U.S., political groups and nonprofits. (AP)
The decision comes after the company endured more than three months of criticism from Democratic politicians and activists over its decision not to fact-check ads from political campaigns. In that time, Twitter banned political ads altogether, while Google announced changes to how ads can be microtargeted. (NBC News)
“There’s no change to the policy regarding fact-checking politicians in advertising,” Facebook spokesperson Tom Reynolds said Thursday. (Politico)