Facebook has announced that before the European elections in May to introduce new tools to prevent blended elections. From the end of March will be required for political ads to the Internet company authorization, said company spokesman Nick Clegg. In addition, it will be apparent who paid for the advertising.
According to the Facebook spokesman, who was once the British deputy head of government, the new rules should apply to advertising for certain candidates and candidates as well as ads on „highly politicized issues such as immigration“. The ad itself and information about who has paid for it and who has been shown to it will be kept publicly available for up to seven years.
Lessons from US election
Facebook has been under pressure since the US presidential election in 2016: US intelligence agencies believe that Russia has led a coordinated manipulation campaign to influence the election, including through social media and, most importantly, Facebook. There is a suspicion that the Kremlin has been involved in several elections in Europe.
Allegations of this kind and a series of data breaches are troubling the US company. The measures now announced are intended in particular to reassure the EU Commission, which had expressed concerns about the election to the European Parliament.
