Washington AG Bob Ferguson Files Campaign Finance Lawsuits Against Facebook And Google
Listen
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is suing Facebook and Google for campaign finance violations. The lawsuits filed Monday allege the companies failed to keep records about who purchased political advertising from them.
Washington state law requires companies that sell political advertising to track who buys ads and make that information available for public inspection. The lawsuits against Facebook and Google allege they failed to comply despite accepting millions of dollars in political ads over the last decade.
Ferguson acknowledged the stakes are higher these days following evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“I think it’s more than fair to say that that heightened concern of interference that we’re seeing nationally underscores the importance of a legal case like this,” Ferguson said. “The whole thrust of our legal action is to make sure that Google and Facebook are transparent about who specifically is paying for ads.”
In a statement, Facebook’s director of product management wrote, “Attorney General Ferguson has raised important questions and we look forward to resolving this matter with his office quickly.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Copyright 2018 Northwest News Network
Related Stories:
Washington Initiative Promoter Tim Eyman Fined $2.6M, Barred From Political Committees In Lawsuit
Tim Eyman, the watch salesman-turned-antitax folk hero whose initiative campaigns have bedeviled state and local governments across Washington for decades, will no longer be allowed to have any financial control over political committees, under a judge’s ruling Wednesday that blasted him for using donor’s contributions to line his own pocket. Continue Reading Washington Initiative Promoter Tim Eyman Fined $2.6M, Barred From Political Committees In Lawsuit
Want To Know Whether You’ve Been Exposed To COVID-19? This App Could Help
University students and staff in the Pacific Northwest are giving a trial run to a smartphone app that tells you if you were recently near someone who just tested positive for COVID-19. State health departments are rolling out similar apps across the country to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Continue Reading Want To Know Whether You’ve Been Exposed To COVID-19? This App Could Help
Washington Financial Disclosure Forms Will Go Back Online, Despite Opposition From Lawmakers
The F-1 statements, as they’re known, were taken offline last month following an urgent email with the subject line “Stop online posting of F1 data” from Democratic state Sen. Sam Hunt, the chair of the State Government committee which oversees the PDC. Continue Reading Washington Financial Disclosure Forms Will Go Back Online, Despite Opposition From Lawmakers
