Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegel has stated that the company will run fact-checks on political ads on its social media platform.
Spiegel made the announcement in midst of a barrage of criticisms aimed at tech giants for their policies as the 2020 US presidential elections loom.
On the contrary, Facebook has said that it will not fact-check political ads, while Twitter has banned them altogether.
Mr. Spiegel said Snapchat tried to “create a place” for ads in order to engage young people in politics.
According to him, all campaign ads will be checked by a dedicated team at Snapchat.
Two months ago, Facebook declared it would not be fact-checking political adverts ahead of the election. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the platform would treat all posts by politicians as “newsworthy content” that should “be seen and heard”.
The company has since come under fire from politicians in Washington, and partially reversed its stance by taking down fake content posted by one political candidate.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s Chief Executive, announced in October last month that the platform would ban all political ads, rather than moderate them. He said in a tweet that the reach of political messages “should be earned, not bought”.
However, Twitter clarified this policy last week, saying that while ads by candidates, political parties or elected government officials are not allowed, advertising by vetted news publishers will be permitted.
