Ahead of the US Presidential Election, Meta Mandates Disclosure of AI Use in Political Ads

The world's largest social media company, Meta, is introducing a policy requiring disclosure when artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content is used in political advertisements. This move comes amid growing concerns that AI-driven fake news could be exploited for public opinion manipulation and incitement ahead of next year's presidential election.

According to reports from the New York Times (NYT) and others on the 8th (local time), Meta announced that starting next year, it will require advertisers worldwide to disclose if they use AI technology from other companies in political or similar advertisements. Advertisers may use third-party AI tools such as the image generator 'DALL·E,' but they must reveal that these tools were used.

Additionally, Meta will not support its own AI technology for creating advertisements related to political or social issues, as well as housing, employment, pharmaceutical, and financial services. Meta stated, "We believe that through this policy, we can establish appropriate safeguards when using generative AI in advertisements related to potentially sensitive topics."

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Accordingly, starting next year, advertisers on Meta's social media platforms must disclose whether AI tools were used in political advertisements; failure to do so may result in rejection of the ads. Meta explained that once an ad is approved, information indicating that it was created using AI tools will be displayed on the advertisement.

Meta added that repeated failure to disclose AI usage will lead to penalties, though it did not specify the exact nature of these penalties.

The NYT noted, "By preventing the misuse of AI in advertisements that could spark political or social controversy, Meta may avoid troublesome lawsuits or social criticism."

Meta has faced criticism for its previously passive stance on political advertisements. It has been at the center of criticism for profiting through personalized marketing on social media platforms it operates?Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp?while tolerating the negative social phenomena generated through these means. Meta earns about 97% of its annual revenue through online advertising, including political ads.

Meta suffered significant backlash in 2016 during the U.S. presidential election when it was revealed that the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) collected and used data from 87 million Facebook users for political advertising purposes.