spot_img

Meta fined for repeated and intentional violation of campaign finance laws in Washington state

Share post:

A judge at King County Superior Court in Washington fined Meta, Facebook’s parent company, $24.66 million for repeatedly and willfully violating campaign finance laws in Washington state.

Meta is alleged to have violated more than 800 of the 1972 Fair Campaign Practices Act, which requires full disclosure of all information related to political campaign financing.

Ad sellers such as Meta are required by law to publish the names and addresses of those who purchase political ads, as well as the purpose of the ads, the way the ads were paid for, and the number of views on the ad. Ad sellers are required to provide the information to anyone who requests it. For decades, television stations and newspapers have followed the law.

The fine is the highest penalty for campaign finance in the country, according to the Washington attorney general’s office.

In the meantime, Meta has tried and failed to argue that the law is unconstitutional because it violates free speech and is impossible to enforce. This is because Facebook keeps records of the political ads it runs but does not contain all the information required by Washington law.

The sources for this piece include an article in NPR.

Featured Tech Jobs

spot_img

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Related articles

Amazon employees stage walkout over remote work flexibility and carbon emissions

Hundreds of Amazon employees walked out of work to demand a more flexible remote work policy and a...

Microsoft to discontinue standalone Cortana App on Windows

Microsoft has announced that support for Cortana on Windows will be phased out beginning later this year. Cortana will...

Former NBCUniversal executive Joe Benarroch joins Twitter

Twitter has announced the addition of Joe Benarroch, a former NBCUniversal executive, to its staff. Benarroch expressed his excitement,...

Amazon considers entry into mobile market

Telecom shares fluctuated due to a Bloomberg report suggesting Amazon might enter the mobile market as a reseller. According...

Become a member

New, Relevant Tech Stories. Our article selection is done by industry professionals. Our writers summarize them to give you the key takeaways