Facebook again declines to limit political ad targeting

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook has decided not to limit how political ads can be targeted to specific groups of people, as its main digital-ad rival Google did in November to fight misinformation. Neither will it ban political ads outright, as Twitter did last October. And it still won’t fact check them, as it’s faced pressure to do.

Instead, it is announcing much more limited “transparency features” that aim to give users slightly more control over how many political ads they see and to make its online library of political ads easier to use.

These steps appear unlikely to assuage critics – including some of the company’s rank and file employees – who say Facebook has too much power and not enough limits when it comes to its effects on elections and democracy itself.