Facebook Extends Political Ad Ban In US For At Least a Month

Facebook’s ban on political ads, which was initially projected to last just one week, is being extended for at least another month. The decision is aimed at limiting the misinformation that’s spreading rampantly over its platform in the wake of the U.S. election. The Guardian reports: “We are keeping the ad pause and other temporary election protection measures in place as that result moves towards certification next month,” said Rob Leathern, director of product management at Facebook. “We are keeping the ad pause and other temporary election protection measures in place as that result moves towards certification next month,” said Rob Leathern, director of product management at Facebook. “We know that people are disappointed that we can’t immediately enable ads for runoff elections in Georgia and elsewhere,” Leathern added. “It’s taken years to build the infrastructure that supports the Facebook Ad Library and ensure that political ads are transparent. We do not have the technical ability in the short term to enable political ads by state or by advertiser, and we are also committed to giving political advertisers equal access to our tools and services.” With political adverts banned across the US, neither Democrats nor Republicans can take advantage of Facebook in their campaigns in Georgia, where both Senate seats are up for grabs on 5 January in a pair of runoff elections. According to Facebook’s own research, the ban is likely to hurt Democrats slightly more, as the company says advertising on its site provides, on average, a proportional advantage to challengers against incumbents. Google is also continuing its political advertising ban, though it hasn’t given a definite end date to the suspension.