Facebook lifts political ad ban in Georgia ahead of runoff elections
The social network temporarily paused political ads in the US after Nov. 3.
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Facebook temporarily paused political ads after Election Day on Nov. 3.
Facebook said it will allow political ads in Georgia starting Wednesday ahead of two runoff elections that will decide which party controls the US Senate.
The social network and Google temporarily banned US political ads after Election Day on Nov. 3. But both companies faced criticism, including from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, that the ban would harm efforts to inform Georgia voters about the Jan. 5 runoff elections. A runoff election generally occurs when candidates don't capture 50% or more of the vote.
Facebook on Tuesday said it's making an exception to the political ad ban after hearing from advertisers and experts. The company has been under pressure to combat election misinformation, and other social networks such as Twitter and TikTok don't allow political ads. Facebook's move comes after Google lifted its political ad ban last week.
"We agree that our ad tools are an important way for people to get information about these elections. So we have developed a process to allow advertisers to run ads with the purpose of reaching voters in Georgia about Georgia's runoff elections," Facebook product manager Sarah Schiff said in a blog post.
The political ad ban will be lifted in Georgia starting Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT. The Georgia runoff elections will likely test Facebook's efforts to combat misinformation. The company said it will still bar ads with content debunked by third-party fact-checkers or that try to delegitimize the Georgia runoff elections.
Facebook said it will also show users in Georgia information about how to vote in the runoff elections at the top of their News Feeds on Instagram and Facebook. The company will include information about early voting this week, including polling place times and locations, and label false claims such as "vote-by-mail leads to fraud."
It's unclear whether Facebook's labeling effectively combats the spread of misinformation. Earlier this month, global activist group Avaaz found inconsistencies in how Facebook labeled misinformation about the Georgia elections.