Washington Sues Google, Facebook for Not Disclosing Political Ad Buyers

The office of Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson recently filed complaints against Google and Facebook for allegedly failing to maintain and publicize records on their political ad buyers.

While such disclosures are not required for digital ads under federal law, any advertiser must maintain records about political ads open to the public in the state of Washington. The lawsuit alleges that both companies have disregarded the law since 2013 and were not able to produce the information when a local paper requested it.

In a press release about the lawsuits, Ferguson stressed that Washington’s political advertising disclosure laws apply to everyone, even to large corporations, and that Washingtonians have the right to know who is buying the political ads that are served to them.

 

Source: CNBC