SINGAPORE — Anyone wishing to run Facebook ads on social issues, elections or politics in Singapore will now have to confirm their identity and location, as well as disclose who is responsible for the ad, in a bid to hold them accountable for the ads they run.
Authorised advertisers will also have their ads placed in an “Ad Library” for seven years, in which information such as its range of impressions, spend and demographic information about the people who saw the ad will be publicly available.
In a press release from the social media giant on Thursday (26 September), public policy director Katie Harbath noted that Facebook had already announced the global rollout of these ad transparency tools in June.
She added that these tools have been extended to the Republic to “enable healthy discourse in Singapore”.
“We’ve taken steps to reduce the spread of misinformation, help prevent foreign interference in elections and – more recently – to bring greater transparency and authenticity to advertising.”
The authorisation process
Advertisers can select themselves, a page they run, or their organisation to appear in the “Paid for by” disclaimer, said Harbath.
The process of authorising advertisers, which may take a few weeks, also requires them to provide additional information such as a phone number, email and website, should they choose to use their organisation or page name in the disclaimer.
The authorisation process is also required for advertisers wanting to run ads related to specific social issues, such as those about civil and social rights, immigration, crime, political values and governance.
“These four social issues were decided based on external consultation and our internal research, which found that Singaporeans discuss, debate or advocate for or against these issues on Facebook,” said Harbath.
Meanwhile, the Ad Library Report will be rolled out within the next few weeks. Harbath said that this provides people who are not as technical with similar information about ads related to social issues, elections or politics.
“We will continue to refine and improve our policies and tools, as part of our commitment to help protect the integrity of elections in Singapore and around the world,” she added.
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