Facebook has announced it will not accept political
advertisements from outside Nigeria ahead of the country’s upcoming
general elections.
The company said it was rolling out new rules to prevent
“foreign interference” around the polls.
A heated campaign has already begun in Nigeria as the country
prepares for the February vote. Facebook ads are an integral part
of the social media campaign for candidates and parties.
The new policy also takes effect in Ukraine, where presidential
elections will be held in March.
Political ad buyers in these countries must confirm their
identity and location and their ads will be archived in an online
library for seven years, the company said in a statement.
Facebook rolled out new measures to increase transparency about
political advertising after data firm Cambridge Analytica obtained
the personal data of as many as 87 million users ahead of the 2016
US elections.
UK authorities fined the social media giant with a £500,000
($645,000) last October, saying that it failed to safeguard user
data.
In India, where general elections will be held in April,
Facebook said it will begin to archive electoral ads in an online
library starting February.
Facebook announced last week that it will roll out additional ad
transparency tools in the EU in May.
“By shining a light on political ads, news organizations,
regulators, watchdog groups and people anywhere in the world can
hold advertisers and us more accountable,” Facebook wrote in the
blog post.
The new plan is similar to those the company rolled out in the
United Kingdom and Brazil in 2018. Political ad-buyers in the
United States must provide Facebook with their Social Security
information, a copy of a government-issued ID, and a US
address.
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