Facebook Employees Raised Concerns Over Political Ad Policy In Letter To Zuckerberg

(The Hill) Emily Birnbaum 10/28/19 01:53 PM Hundreds of Facebook employees are raising sharp concerns over the companys policy allowing misinformation in political ads raising the stakes as the company simultaneously faces a firestorm of criticism from policymakers and 2020 Democrats externally. In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg obtained by The New York Times the employees wrote they strongly object to Facebooks decision not to fact-check political ads paid for by elected officials or political candidates. Misinformation affects us all they wrote according to a copy published by the Times. Our current policies on fact checking people in political office or those running for office are a threat to what FB stands for. We strongly object to this policy as it stands the employees continued. It doesnt protect voices but instead allows politicians to weaponize our platform by targeting people who believe that content posted by political figures is trustworthy. Earlier this month Facebook clarified that it does not fact-check or censor misinformation in political ads drawing aggressive scrutiny from leading Democratic presidential candidates including former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Zuckerberg defended the policy at a congressional hearing last week during a fiery line of questioning from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) who pressed the tech executive over whether she could place ads making false claims about Republican rivals.