Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Aug 06, 2025

Facebook should not be 'the arbiter of truth' in political ads, says former FEC chairman

Facebook should not be 'the arbiter of truth' in political ads, says former FEC chairman

Facebook's "stated policy is fair" when it comes to political ads, says Lee Goodman, a Republican who led the FEC under Obama.

Facebook should not be tasked with determining the truthfulness of political campaign ads, says a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Lee Goodman -a Republican who led the FEC during Barack Obama’s presidency, says Facebook’s “stated policy is fair” when it comes to political ads.

Facebook is avoiding refereeing “truth or falsity, opinion versus fact, candidate versus candidate debates” by taking a hands-off approach, says Goodman.

Facebook should not be tasked with determining the truthfulness of political campaign ads, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission told CNBC on Thursday.

Lee Goodman -a Republican who led the FEC during Barack Obama’s presidency — was reacting to the social network’s decision to reject a Biden campaign request to remove an advertisement from President Donald Trump’s campaign containing unproven information. Other tech companies like Twitter and Google’s YouTube were running the Trump ad. CNN refused to run it.

The Trump ad claims that former Vice President Joe Biden “offered Ukraine $1 billion to fire the prosecutor investigating a company affiliated with his son.” The Biden campaign said the claim should be covered by Facebook’s pledge to reject political ads with “previously debunked content.” Trump’s July phone call asking Ukraine’s president to investigate the Bidens is central to the impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats.

Facebook, like all publishers, has to have reasonable editorial standards,” Goodman said on “Squawk Box.” “What we’re seeing here is an exercise of their editorial freedom to feature candidate ads without fact-checking and allow the political process to be the arbiter of truth and falsity in political advertising by the candidates themselves.”

The global elections policy chief at Facebook wrote a letter to Biden’s campaign, which was originally obtained by The New York Times. The letter said the social network’s approach to political ads is “grounded in Facebook’s fundamental belief in free expression, respect for the democratic process, and the belief that, in mature democracies with a free press, political speech is already arguably the most scrutinized speech there is.Thus, when a politician speaks or makes an ad, we do not send it to third party fact checkers.”

Facebook will be “condemned” either way, Goodman said, even though the company “doesn’t want to be the arbiter and doesn’t want to take sides in these political debates.”

“Their stated policy, I think, is fair,” Goodman said, adding Facebook is avoiding refereeing “truth or falsity, opinion versus fact, candidate versus candidate debates” by taking a hands-off approach.

Facebook which declined to comment after the letter surfaced  has worked to improve its advertising disclosures after government officials concluded Russians used the platform to influence the 2016 election. In late August, the company tightened its verification process that requires people who want to run ads to prove they are in the U.S., and to confirm their group’s identity through a tax identification number or a government ID.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Qatar Airways Clears Backlog of Passengers Following Missile Threats
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
×