Snapchat says it fact-checks all political ads

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IANS | 19 Nov, 2019
While Facebook faces the ire over presence of misleading and fake political ads on its platform, Snapchat has said it fact-checks all political ads and does not allow misinformation to sneak through its platform.

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said the company subjects all advertising to review, including political advertising.

"What we try to do is create a place for political ads on our platform, especially because we reach so many young people and first-time voters, we want them to be able to engage with the political conversation, but we don't allow things like misinformation to appear in that advertising," Spiegel told CNBC on Monday.

Facebook recently allowed US President Donald Trump's campaign office to post a fake ad about Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden on its platform.

Snapchat's comment on political ads came after Twitter on November 15 officially banned all kinds of political ads from its platform.

No political content will be promoted from candidates, parties, governments or officials, public accounts committees (PACs) and certain political non-profit groups, said Twitter.

"Twitter globally prohibits the promotion of political content. We have made this decision based on our belief that political message reach should be earned, not bought," the micro-blogging platform said on Friday.

On October 31, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had tweeted: "While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics."

According to experts, the onus is now on Facebook to take action which has become a platform for spreading misleading and fake political ads.