Facebook sought exception from political ad disclaimer rules in 2011

Source: CNN | September 27, 2017 | Donie O'Sullivan

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that the social network would begin voluntarily requiring disclaimers on political ads that appear on the site. But in 2011 Facebook went to federal regulators to get an exception from a rule that would have forced it to do the same thing.

Federal election regulations state that political “communications placed for a fee on another person’s website” must carry disclaimers stating that they are advertisements and who paid for them.

Facebook(FB, Tech30) sought an exception to disclaimer regulations citing space constraints for its “character-limited ads.” Lawyers for the company argued the ads were so small that a disclaimer would be impracticable, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by CNN.

Facebook argued, at the time, that ads on the platform were restricted to 160 characters. However, ads on Facebook have since evolved into sophisticated multimedia experiences. Advertisers can choose to sponsor videos, carousels of images and slideshows. Today, not all of Facebook’s advertising options are character-limited.

Facebook asked for what is known as a “small items” exception. The FEC says small campaign paraphernalia like stickers and buttons do not need to carry disclaimers stating who paid for them.

The FEC also allows some political ads to avoid disclaimer rules where it would be impracticable — the commission lists skywriting as an exception under this clause, for instance.

There was some precedent for Facebook’s request.

In 2002, the FEC ruled in favor of Target Wireless, which argued that political ads sent by text message that were limited to 160 characters should not have to include a disclaimer.

In 2010, the commission ruled in favor of Google when it sought an exception for political ads on its platform, again arguing that such ads were character-limited.

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