Facebook Fined $25 Million for Violating Election Law

By
David Rufful
-
OPINION | This article contains opinion. This site is licensed to publish this content.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been fined $25 million for repeatedly and intentionally violating campaign finance disclosure laws.

Judge Douglass North ordered Facebook to pay by wire transfer, check or money order within 30 days.

This is believed to be the largest campaign finance fine in U.S. history, according to NBC News.

Meta is ordered to pay $10.5 million in legal fees to Washington state as part of the nearly $25 million fine for repeated and intentional violations of campaign finance disclosure laws.

Facebook committed more than 800 violations of Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act.

The company also was sued in 2018 for violating the same law.

The judge imposed the maximum fine because Facebook did not learn its lesson the first time.

Face said it is assessing its options with respect to the ruling.

From NPR:

The penalty issued by King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North was the maximum allowed for more than 800 violations of Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, passed by voters in 1972 and later strengthened by the Legislature. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued that the maximum was appropriate considering his office previously sued Facebook in 2018 for violating the same law.

Meta, based in Menlo Park, California, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Washington’s transparency law requires ad sellers such as Meta to keep and make public the names and addresses of those who buy political ads, the target of such ads, how the ads were paid for and the total number of views of each ad. Ad sellers must provide the information to anyone who asks for it. Television stations and newspapers have complied with the law for decades.

But Meta has repeatedly objected to the requirements, arguing unsuccessfully in court that the law is unconstitutional because it “unduly burdens political speech” and is “virtually impossible to fully comply with.” While Facebook does keep an archive of political ads that run on the platform, the archive does not disclose all the information required under Washington’s law.

— Advertisement —