Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Facebook has stood firm in the face of pressure over its policies on political ads, defending a “warts and all” approach that allows politicians to lie in ads placed on its platform. In a post published in its newsroom, the company said it had based its policies on the principle that “people should be able to hear from those who wish to lead them” and “what they say should be scrutinized and debated in public.” Facebook will be offering more transparency and control over political ads for users of both Instagram and Facebook.
The company’s current ad policies came under tough scrutiny last year, when it emerged that it exempts politicians from its rules about posting misinformation in ads. The policy was fiercely criticized both i…