Facebook, Google Pay to Settle State Political Campaign Ad Probe
- Companies accused of failing to record platform ad spending
- Internet giants say they’re committed to transparency on ads
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Facebook Inc. and Google will pay Washington state a combined $455,000 to settle allegations that they skirted transparency rules for election campaign advertising, one of the first such fines against the Silicon Valley giants amid growing scrutiny of their influence on U.S. elections.
Washington’s attorney general accused the companies in a June lawsuit of failing to document about $6 million in political advertising on their sites dating back to 2013. The settlements aren’t an admission of wrongdoing, according to filings in state court in Seattle.