US flags misinformation concerns to Facebook

Facebook's policy on paid political advertisements has flaws that allow the spread of false information, the US Democratic National Committee has said in a letter to Sheryl Sandberg, a top official of the social media giant.

Facebook has been reviewing its policies following criticism from lawmakers and regulators over a decision not to fact-check ads run by politicians, with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg saying it does not want to stifle political speech.

In the letter that Reuters obtained on Tuesday, the US Democratic Party's administrative and fundraising body has flagged its concerns to Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, and sought more transparency.

"...we have significant remaining concerns about Facebook policies that allow the platform to be used to spread misinformation and undermine our democracy," the committee's chief executive, Seema Nanda, wrote in the Nov. 21 letter.

The panel said it felt Facebook had not devoted enough resources to detecting inauthentic behavior.

"Considering Facebook's enormous financial resources and the stakes of the upcoming elections, we'd ask that you dedicate additional capacity to enforce your terms of service against these types of malicious actors," Nanda added.

A meeting of DNC representatives and Facebook took place last month ahead of the 2020 US presidential primary season, the letter said.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment late on Tuesday.

The company has recently faced a barrage of criticism over privacy lapses, election-related activity and its dominance in online advertising, spurring calls for more regulation and anti-trust investigations.