Facebook sharpens political ad rules ahead of 2020

As political ad spending for 2020 ramps up, Facebook is tightening its rules to make sure that groups running political or issue ads are legitimate and aren't gaming the system.

Why it matters: With some high-profile examples of such evasion already emerging, the changes will make it harder for groups to dodge Facebook's political advertising review program.

Details: Facebook will require advertisers to supply more information about their organization, like their U.S. street address, phone number, business email and a business website matching the email, before Facebook reviews and approves their political advertising disclaimer. That information will become part of Facebook's public ad library.

In addition, advertisers must provide a Tax ID number, Federal Election Commission (FEC) ID number, or a government website domain that matches an email ending in .gov or .mil, if they want to be labeled as a "Confirmed Organization."
Smaller businesses without those credentials can also choose to provide an organization with a verifiable phone number, business email, mail-deliverable address, and a business website with a domain that matches the email or the legal name and and a personal ID of an individual who is buying ads for a Facebook Page.
Groups that do not meet the standards by mid-October will have their ads blocked until they comply.
Facebook will also update its list of acceptable social issues that advertisers can message about, bringing the U.S. list in line with issue lists in countries that have recently held elections.