Hi-Tech

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Testify Before Senate

April 09, 2018 00:34·
Image Facebook

Image Facebook

Starting in the USA, advertisers who wish to run political ads will need to confirm their identity and locations - this will expand to other countries in the months to come.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at a conference in San Francisco on April 12, 2016. The information was later transferred to third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, in violation of Facebook's policies.

But in the coming months, Facebook will bring either this expiration timer or another way to Unsend messages to all Messenger threads. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a Capitol Hill leader for more social media accountability, applauded the move and noted that the majority of Kremlin propaganda that appeared on the platforms during the 2016 election "didn't mention Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump - but they did mention divisive political issues like guns, LGBT rights, immigration, and racial issues". "We wanted to organise some direct action where lots of people could say that they love Facebook but want to see it improved". Today's announcement extends that policy beyond electoral ads to any content promoting controversial issues.

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Zuckerberg also offered Facebook's clearest support yet for pending federal legislation that would require the tech industry to disclose more information about political ads, including who buys them, and retain copies of them for public inspection. Google and Twitter also sent lower-level executives to the three public hearings on the matter.

All ads tied to elections or hot-button issues will also be labeled "Political Ad" and include information on the ad buyer on Facebook and Instagram. US users will see this change first later in the Spring. Facebook didn't have details about whether recipients would be notified when a message was unsent and retracted from their inboxes, whether the feature would apply retroactively to old messages sent before the launch, or whether users would need to designate a message as expiring/unsendable before they send it.

Goldman and Himel added that Facebook was increasing its investment in technology-based detection methods: "We're also investing in artificial intelligence and adding more people to help find advertisers that should have gone through the authorisation process but did not". The development immediately follows backlash against the company that it deleted messages its CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent in the past to people with whom he was communicating on Messenger. "Election interference is a problem that's bigger than any one platform, and that's why we support the Honest Ads Act", Zuckerberg said.

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