The social media giant Twitter has been the platform of conversation in recent weeks as CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, completed his takeover of the company just a few days ago.
One of Musk’s first moves was firing top executives, who in the past challenged his acquisition of the company.
Now Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is in the limelight as the company is being fined $25 million for repeatedly violating campaign financial disclosure laws.
Facebook parent company Meta has been ordered to pay $10.5 million in legal fees to Washington state atop a nearly $25 million fine for repeated and intentional violations of campaign finance disclosure laws. https://t.co/QqEIyW45Wp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 29, 2022
King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North of Washington issued the fine and it is to be paid to the state within 30 days.
The violations made by Meta were not a one and done deal. The company violated Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act more than 800 times.
In 2018 when the company was known as Facebook, they violated the same act which is why Judge North issued the maximum penalty to the social media giant.
Facebook hit with $25 million in fines for breaking Washington election law https://t.co/gbY9MyYbJa
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) October 27, 2022
The violations Meta committed were relating to disclosure of people who paid for political ads, the target of the ads, how they were paid for and the views accumulated after their dissemination.
NPR reported on the fine.
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.
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