Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Facebook to Allow Paid Political Messages That Aren't Ads

Associated Press

   SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook decided Friday to allow a type of paid
   political message that had sidestepped many of the social network's
   rules governing political ads.

   Its policy change camedays after presidential candidate Michael
   Bloomberg exploited a loophole to run such humorous messages promoting
   his campaign on the accounts of popular Instagram personalities
   followed by millions of younger people.

   The change involves what Facebook calls ``branded content''--sponsored
   items posted by ordinary users who are typically paid by companies or
   organizations. Advertisers pay the influential users directly to post
   about their brand.

   No money for Facebook

   Facebook makes no money from such posts and does not consider them
   advertising. As a result, branded content isn't governed by Facebook's
   advertising policies, which require candidates and campaigns to verify
   their identity with a U.S. ID or mailing address and disclose how much
   they spent running each ad.

   Until Friday, Facebook tried to deter the use of paid posts through
   influential users as political messages. Specifically, it barred
   political campaigns from using a tool designed to help advertisers run
   branded posts on Facebook and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.
   Friday's rule change will now allow campaigns in the U.S. to use this
   tool, provided they've been authorized by Facebook to run political ads
   and disclose who paid for the sponsored posts.

.