Last month, Facebook was ordered to pay a
S5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission
over privacy violations. It also faces a series of
other investigations into its privacy practices in
Europe and across the U.S., in addition to new
investigations into its allegedly anticompetitive
behavior, such as the social network’s habit
of buying would-be rivals like Instagram and
blatantly duplicating features introduced by
competing services.
While the company has beefed up its fight
against misinformation and coordinated
attacks by malicious nation-states, the same
can be said for those trying to game its systems.
After revelations that that Russians bankrolled
thousands of fake political ads during the 2016
elections, Facebook and other social networks
faced intense pressure to ensure that doesn’t
happen again.
In late 2017, Facebook said it will verify
political ad buyers by requiring them to
confirm their names and locations, the latter
by receiving a postcard with a confirmation
code at a U.S. address. Page administrators also
had to be verified.
But critics said the rules were easy to evade. Last
fall, for instance, Vice News was able to place
ads on behalf of the likes of Vice President Mike
Pence and the Islamic State, which were all
approved by Facebook.