Facebook tweaks ad policy but still allows political lies in US campaign 2020

Facebook Inc announced limited changes on Thursday to its approach to political ads, including allowing users to turn off certain ad-targeting tools, but defied critics’ demands that it bar politicians from using its ads system to spread lies.

Ahead of the US presidential election in November 2020, the world’s biggest social network has vowed to curb political manipulation of its platform.

Facebook failed to counter Russian interference in the 2016 election and allowed misuse of user data by defunct political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Now, it faces intense criticism of its relatively hands-off ads policies, especially after exempting politicians’ ads from fact-checking standards applied to other content.