Facebook opens Authorization tab in Page settings for advertisers running political ads

Facebook announced earlier this month that as part of its efforts to make political ads more transparent, it has now added an Authorization tab in Page settings for advertisers wanting to run political ads.

In light of the recent charges that foreign powers misused Facebook’s advertising platform to influence elections, Facebook’s new authorization process aims to verify all advertisers running political ads, election-related ads and issue ads on the site.

Advertisers wanting to run political ads must take the following three actions to complete the authorization process:

1. Page admins and ad account admins will submit a government-issued ID and provide a residential mailing address for verification.
2. Facebook will confirm each address by mailing a letter with a unique access code that only the Page admin’s Facebook account can use.
3. Advertisers must disclose who is paying for the ads.

According to the announcement, the Authorization tab is currently visible in Page settings for all advertisers, but only advertisers wanting to run political, election-related and issue ads in the US will be able to complete the authorization process.

Facebook says it is starting the authorization process in the US but plans to roll it out worldwide over the coming months.

Since the news broke that Facebook was suspending Cambridge Analytica for exploiting user data, the company has issued numerous announcements around all the ways it plans to safeguard user data and better patrol how advertisers use the platform and its apps. Just last week, the company reopened the review process for apps after pausing all app reviews following the Cambridge Analytica crisis.

Earlier this month, Facebook announced it was launching an independent election-base research project with the goal of determining how social media impacts elections. It will be interesting to see how effective this authorization process will be, as it hinges on what presumably will be thousands of letters being sent to advertisers across the US, and eventually, the world.