advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Authorisation now required for those running Facebook political ads in SA

Last year all eyes were on Facebook to see how it would handle misinformation on its platform related to the US Presidential Elections. The social media platform decided to launch a set of tools to foster greater transparency around political ads as a result and, while the jury is still out on whether they were indeed effective, it was at least some semblance of action.

Now the same tools are being expanded to South Africa and Zambia. Both countries are having elections this year, with SA being Municipal in nature. As we have seen in recent weeks, parties across the country have been ramping up their campaign efforts, which means greater scrutiny is needed for what we see online.

As such, Facebook has outlined new steps that must be adhered to for those running political ads moving forward.

“Anyone running ads about political figures, political parties, the election or ‘Get out the vote’ campaigns must go through the ad authorization process by verifying their identity with a government-issued photo ID, confirming their location in those countries and advertisers are required to provide more information about the person or organization responsible for the ad to place ‘Paid for by’ disclaimers on these ads,” the social media platform confirmed in a press release sent to Hypertext.

“This includes any person creating, modifying, publishing, or pausing ads that reference ads about elections or politics. Ads will also be entered into Facebook’s Ad Library for seven years,” it added.

The role that Facebook plays in the spread of misinformation has come to light locally in recent months, and while we were disappointed to see the company turn down the opportunity to engage with Parliament on the matter, the rollout of these tools is indeed welcome.

“We believe that more transparency leads to increased accountability and responsibility for both Facebook and advertisers, which is good for people and businesses alike. Political ads play an important role in every election. Our work to help protect elections is never done, but we believe changes like these continue to move us in the right direction,” added Facebook’s head of Public Policy for Southern Africa, Nomonde Gongxeka-Seopa.

We only hope that people take a more critical view of the content they view online in the lead up and during this upcoming election season.

[Image – Photo by Parker Johnson on Unsplash]

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement