Meta Platforms Inc. will block new political ads one week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, and will require advertisers globally to disclose when they use AI to create or alter images in political ads.
In a blog post Tuesday, Nick Clegg, president of Meta's (META) global affairs, detailed how the social-media giant, which owns Facebook and Instagram, will handle next year's elections.
The U.S. policy will remain much as it was in 2020, with new political ads blocked until after a day after the election. "In the final days of an election, we recognize there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in ads," Clegg said. "Ads that have previously run before this restriction period will be allowed to run during this time."
And starting in the new year, Meta will require advertisers to disclose when they use artificial intelligence to create or manipulate images, videos or audio.
"This applies if the ad contains a photorealistic image or video, or realistic sounding audio, that was digitally created or altered to depict a real person as saying or doing something they did not say or do," Clegg said. "It also applies if an ad depicts a realistic-looking person that does not exist or a realistic-looking event that did not happen, alters footage of a real event, or depicts a realistic event that allegedly occurred, but that is not a true image, video or audio recording of the event."
Meta's comprehensive political-ad policy update comes as more than 2 billion people will vote in elections around the world next year, including in the U.S., India, Indonesia, Mexico and the EU.
Meta has faced harsh criticism in the past for inadequate measures to combat misinformation, including during the 2016 presidential election. Earlier this year, Media Matters reported Meta was not enforcing its own policy on political or "social issues" ads, allowing "quasi-white nationalist" ads to run without proper disclosures.
Lawmakers in October urged Meta and Elon Musk's X to do more to crack down on deceptive, AI-generated political ads. Alphabet's $(GOOG)$ $(GOOGL)$ Google unveiled new rules in September requiring prominent disclosures for political ads that use AI to alter images or voices.
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