Africa-Press – Zambia. FACEBOOK has announced the expansion of its tools and policies which will provide transparency and control on electoral and political ads to more countries around the world, including Zambia and South Africa which are both facing elections this year.
Yesterday, Facebook launched its enforcement on ads about elections or politics in Zambia and South Africa, as a result, 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.
The company state that advertisers are further required to provide more information about the person or organization responsible for the ad to place “Paid for by” disclaimers on the ads.
“This includes any person creating, modifying, publishing, or pausing ads that reference ads about elections or politics.The Ads will also be entered into Facebook’s Ad Library for seven years.
While political ads play an important role in every election, people have told Facebook they want the option to see fewer of these on their Facebook and Instagram feeds. Earlier this year, Facebook announced a new control feature that allows people to have more control over the ads they see on Facebook. This feature gives people a choice to see fewer electoral and political ads with “Paid for by” disclaimers in Zambia or South Africa ” reads the statement
And commenting on the feature, Facebook’s Head of Public Policy, Southern Africa, Nomonde Gongxeka- Seopa said the company believe that more transparency leads to increased accountability and responsibility for both Facebook and advertisers.
“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,” Seopa said.
