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Facebook is implementing stricter rules on political ads on its platform to protect the presidential election in the United States in November 2020.

In a blog post, Sarah Schiff, Public Policy Director for Global Election and Product Manager at Facebook said they made significant changes to “ensure more transparency and authenticity in ads about social issues, elections or politics.”

The move comes after the social media giant caught some advertisers who tried to manipulate its authorization process by putting misleading “paid for by” disclaimers on their ads.

Facebook’s existing authorization process requires advertisers to provide identification, their location and place a “paid for by” disclaimer in their ads.

Starting in mid-September, it will introduce the “Confirmed Organization” for U.S. advertisers. The label will appear on the right-hand corner of their ads once they submitted more information about their organization. The social media giant will stop their ads if they fail to provide additional information by mid-October.

The required additional information includes the following:
1. Tax-registered organization identification number (i.e. EIN)
2. A government website domain that matches an email ending in .gov or .mil
3. Federal Election Commission (FEC) identification number

Smaller businesses or local politicians who want to run ads regarding elections, politics and social issues may choose one of two options below:
1. Submit an organization name by providing a verifiable phone number, business email, mail-deliverable address and a business website with a domain that matches the email.
2. Provide no organizational information and rely solely on the Page Admin’s legal name on their personal identification document. For this option, the advertiser will not be able to use a registered organization name in disclaimers.
The icon “About this Ad” will appear instead of “Confirmed Organization.”

“This will allow people to confidently gauge the legitimacy of an organization and quickly raise questions or concerns if they find anything out of the ordinary,” according to Schiff.