Facebook To Temporarily Block Foreign Political Ad Buys In Australia

In the run-up to upcoming elections in various countries, Facebook, Inc. FB is going all out to secure the platform and eliminate any external interference.

The company recently announced that it will temporarily stop foreign entities from buying electoral ads in Australia ahead of May's federal elections. Any ads with references to "politicians, parties or election suppression, political slogans and party logos" will fall under electoral ads. The rule will commence once the election is announced.

Facebook is taking improved measures to prevent any interference in elections especially after it confirmed that around 300,000 Australian users were affected by the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Security Measures For Users In Australia

Facebook is working with an international news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) to launch a fact-checking program in Australia. The program will help the company easily identify false content and lower its view rate by placing it in the bottom of the News Feed.

Additionally, Facebook has increased its investments in both people and technology to take down fake accounts, which are primarily responsible for the creation of misleading content.

Notably, the company recently took down a few fake accounts after Kate Washington, an Australian politician, identified them.

Facebook has also updated its Ad Library containing all active ads on Facebook and the Pages that feature them. The Library also includes details such as the pPage creation date and "primary country of people who manage Pages with large audiences."

However, Facebook does not require advertisers in the country to present necessary documents, before placing political ads.

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