May 24, 2018 - Technology

Facebook's archive of political ads is now live

David McCabe

Mark Zuckerberg closeup — Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress earlier this year. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Facebook turned on its new political ad transparency regime on Thursday.

Why it matters: After the 2016 election manipulation scandal, Facebook's efforts to police ads on its platform will be closely watched ahead of the midterms. In a call with reporters, the company indicated it's paying close attention to developments regarding political ad regulation.

The details:

Starting Thursday, Facebook and Instagram United States election ads, in addition to ads on certain issues, will be marked as political with a label denoting who paid for them to run.
The company also debuted its archive of political advertisements — which it says will ultimately cover seven years of material. The company started putting ads in the archive in early May, said Facebook executive Rob Leathern.
Users will also be able to flag ads that they think are political, but aren't marked as such.

Add Axios on Google

Facebook's archive of political ads is now live

What to read next