UK queries Facebook decision to exempt political statements from fact-checking

Commons committee demands explanation 'given constraints it will place on combatting disinformation'

The UK parliament has demanded to know why Facebook has decided to exempt political statements from its fact-checking programme - removing all bars on political candidates lying in paid adverts.

In a letter to the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, now Facebook's vice-president for global affairs and communications, Damian Collins, the chair of the House of Commons' digital, culture, media and sport select committee, described the change first reported in early October as "particularly concerning".