Political Advertisers On Facebook Are Required To Provide Identity And Location

Political ads have caused the giant social media platform, Facebook, some complications and scandals. Therefore, the company has come up with a policy with the purpose of avoiding troubles for the upcoming general elections of India in 2019. Accordingly, the platform will require advertisers to provide their information including their location and identity.

This rule will be applied to both Facebook and Instagram, which will provide transparency and clarity in political ads. At the beginning of 2019, Facebook will also show a disclaimer on political ads. This is done through the submission of advertiser registration information, and the Ad Library is free to search online.

An Advertising Library will include all political ads and specific details such as budget information associated with individual ads, impressions, and demographics of who saw the ads.

The company said on its blog that political ads will be run by a registered advertiser. This person will need to go through Facebook's authentication process. After that, a disclaimer will be labeled to the advertiser.

With advertisers authorization and ads transparency improvement, the company can safeguard India's elections from foreign interference.

There are more than 200 million Indian citizens who are using Facebook, and they need to be well-informed of the information about political ads, political parties, political figures, elections, and the laws. According to the company, significant changes in ads management of  Facebook, as well as Instagram, have been carried out. Facebook has the responsibility to ensure fairness and transparency for all countries around the world. These new modifications have already been introduced in the US, UK, and Brazil.

According to the social media giant, this is the key to prevent the misuse of advertising that affects the politics of nations. Therefore, in 2019, India will be the next country to put into effect these ads management changes to prepare for the general elections of India.