Facebook has not confirmed any changes to its policy on political advertising. However, the Wall Street Journal has reported that it is discussing the possibility of introducing some restrictions on political ads with representatives from both the Republican and the Democratic parties.
Earlier this week, Google announced that it would place restrictions on political advertising by preventing campaigns from using micro-targeting tools. Micro-targeting by digital political campaigns – which allows for individuals to be targeted based on their interests and psychological profiles, interactions with sites and pages, and even their contact information – has attracted concern, amid a larger controversy surrounding the negative impacts of online platforms on democracy.
Google’s decision came less than a month after Twitter announced that it would put a stop to almost all political advertising, raising the pressure on Facebook – as the main online arena in which...