Facebook to now label political ads
San Francisco, May 25 : In a fresh bid to prevent foreign interference into elections, Facebook has begun labelling all political and issue ads in the US -- including a "Paid for by" disclosure from the advertiser at the top of the advertisement.
Advertisers wanting to run ads with political content in the US will also need to verify their identity and location, the social media giant said in a blog post late Thursday.
"When you click on the label, you'll be taken to an archive with more information. For example, the campaign budget associated with an individual ad and how many people saw it - including their age, location and gender," said Rob Leathern, Director of Product Management at Facebook.
The changes have currently been introduced in the US.
If people see an ad which they believe has political content and is not labelled, they can report back to Facebook.
To do so, just tap the three dots at the top right-hand corner of the ad, select "report", and then "it refers to a political candidate or issue".
"Facebook will review the ad, and if it falls under our Political Advertising policy, we'll take it down and add it to the archive," Leathern wrote.
The advertiser will then be banned from running ads with political content until they complete Facebook's authorisation process.
"We won't always get it right. We know we'll miss some ads and in other cases we'll identify some we shouldn't. We'll keep working on the process and improve as we go," the company said.
The changes are aimed at preventing a situation like the 2016 US presidential election when Russian advertisers created fake posts and bought ads to interfere in the election process on both Facebook and its photo-sharing platform Instagram.
Facebook said it is working closely with its newly-formed Election Commission and other stakeholders to launch an API for the archive.
"We're working closely with news partners and are committed to updating the archive to help differentiate between news and non-news content," the post added.
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Home Minister Amit Shah is the director of JDS MP Prajwal Revanna's pen drive case: Minister Priyank
Kalaburagi: Priyank Kharge, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, in a press conference at the Congress office in the city on Monday said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is the director of the pen drive case involving JDS MP Prajwal Revanna.
Kharge also attacked the BJP for it's reluctance to condemn Prajwal Revanna's actions, instead opting to divert attention by calling for investigations into the video's release and pushing for a CBI inquiry.
He questioned the lack of action from the central government in safeguarding the dignity of the women involved and condemned its action of not yet canceling the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna.
Speaking on the limitations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in handling the case, Kharge stressed the necessity for cooperation from the Centre to arrest Prajwal Revanna from abroad. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already reached out to the Centre regarding this matter.
Legislative council member Shakala Allamaprabhu Patil, Tippanappa Kamakanur, former minister Revunayaka Belamagi, Congress party's Jagadev Guttedar, Chairman of Kalaburagi Urban Development Authority Mazhar Alam Khan, and Eranna Jhalaki were present.
