US Democrats seek disclosure after Russia-backed political ads
Democratic US lawmakers on Wednesday urged the Federal Election Commission to require transparency for social media advertising after Russians bought US political ads on Facebook Inc in an alleged attempt to influence the 2016 elections.
Pressure is mounting on regulators and Silicon Valley companies to open up the opaque world of online political ads and to prevent governments from using them to sway elections or attempt other meddling.
"Social media platforms offer the ability to target millions of users based upon a wealth of highly detailed information," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the election commission.
"As we have seen, the low cost of reaching these users equips hostile foreign actors with a powerful new tool for disruption of our democratic process."
Some 20 Democrats from the Senate and House of Representatives signed the letter.
