Facebook to require verification for ads and business pages

The social platform announced additional measures to help identify posts and pages that touch upon political issues. The move comes after the growing backlash surrounding users’ data.

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Facebook is making big changes for advertisers and business page owners.

On Friday, the platform announced that any advertisers who want to boost Facebook posts that touch on political hot topics must now verify both their location and identity. Any advertisements or boosted posts that touch upon politics will also be labeled as such.

Rob Goldman, Facebook’s vice president of ads, and Alex Himel, Facebook’s vice president of Local & Pages, wrote a post in the company’s newsroom. It read, in part:

Last October, we announced that only authorized advertisers will be able to run electoral ads on Facebook or Instagram. And today, we’re extending that requirement to anyone that wants to show “issue ads” — like political topics that are being debated across the country. We are working with third parties to develop a list of key issues, which we will refine over time. To get authorized by Facebook, advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location. Advertisers will be prohibited from running political ads — electoral or issue-based — until they are authorized.

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