Facebook now requires political advertisers to prove they're Americans by submitting their Social Security numbers

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published 21 May 2018

Facebook announced a crackdown on political advertising in early April, a move intended to assuage fears about political misinformation and election meddling. Among the changes, which will be fully implemented Tuesday, Facebook will display who pays for political ads. The social network will also institute a complex process to verify purchasers of U.S. political advertising are Americans (or permanent residents) living in America.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan decided to experience that process for himself, sharing the results on Twitter. The steps include: giving Facebook your address so the company can physically mail you a verification code, uploading images of your driver's license or passport, and submitting your Social Security number.

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And the scope of application for this process is broad. Facebook says it applies to "national issues of public importance" including civil rights, government reform, the exceedingly vague "values," and much more. A number of prominent media organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, have sent a letter to Facebook complaining that news content will be inappropriately lumped in with advocacy.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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