Kaminsky Lauds Facebook Ad Disclosure

(Rockville Centre, New York) - Senator Todd Kaminsky, who proposed the first statewide law to require Facebook to disclose who pays for the ads you see, released the following after Facebook’s announcement that they would increase disclosure.

“This is a result of state and federal lawmakers holding Facebook's feet to the fire,” said Senator Todd Kaminsky. “Those of us who have been the victim of false and anonymous attacks have been waiting and pushing for this. Our democracy deserves nothing less.”

Senator Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman James Skoufis introduced legislation (A.8816 & S.6896A) to require disclosure on political Facebook ads.

In September 2017, Facebook disclosed to federal investigators that it sold $100,000 worth of advertising to an international buyer in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election. Right now in New York, many forms of political advertisements carry no disclosure requirement. Skoufis and Kaminsky’s legislation would more accurately define what a political advertisement is, and require ads to disclose on their face who has paid for them with a “paid for by” statement.

**Background**

On October 4, 2017, Senator Todd Kaminsky announced legislation (S.6896A) to prevent anonymous and false political attack ads on social media. Senator Kaminsky also released a letter he had sent to Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO of ‎Facebook, explaining how the social media platform was used to deceive New York voters in his district, and warning him of future deceptive ads. Much of his legislation was enacted into law in this year’s New York State budget.

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