That’s why Facebook needs to pro-actively disclose the political advertisements made on its platform: the amount, spender, content, and targeting. There is precedent for this kind of disclosure: TV and radio stations have been providing so-called public inspection files.
This reform would also result in the disclosure of spending by any autocratic states or regimes in weak democracies that want to promote propaganda on Facebook. Facebook should also block the use of their paid features to promote links to websites and pages that knowingly publish political misinformation.
That would limit the spread of fake news on the platform going forward. And while Facebook claims to have blocked ads from running on fake news sites, they have not yet taken the step to block ads on Facebook by fake news sites – or haven’t disclosed it, if they have.
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