The response of Facebook, Google, and Twitter to this possible legislation
was to increase their transparency in the political ads purchased on their
platforms. In a sense, all three companies tried to get out in front of any
possible congressional mandates. In late 2017 and at various times in 2018,
representatives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter testiﬁed before Congress –
including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in April 2018 – about Russian
efforts online in 2016 as well as
the spread and dissemination of
misinformation through social media. Facebook announced new rules in
May 2018, such that ads with “political content” (meant to include not just
electioneering but all ads related to public policy issues) would now require
disclaimers that “accurately represent the name of the entity or person
responsible for the ad” and that ad buyers would need to be ofﬁcially
authorized by entering a designated identiﬁcation code mailed to the buyers of
Social_Media_and_Democracy