Facebook exempts political ads from ban on making false claims

Firm quietly rescinds policy banning false advertising as UK general election looms

Facebook has quietly rescinded a policy banning false claims in advertising, creating a specific exemption that leaves political adverts unconstrained regarding how they could mislead or deceive, as a potential general election looms in the UK.

The social network had previously banned adverts containing "deceptive, false or misleading content", a much stronger restriction than its general rules around Facebook posts. But, as reported by the journalist Judd Legum, in the last week the rules have narrowed considerably, only banning adverts that "include claims debunked by third-party fact-checkers, or, in certain circumstances, claims debunked by organisations with particular expertise".