The attorney general for Washington state filed a second lawsuit against Facebook on Tuesday, over political ads in the 2020 presidential election season.
The lawsuit says Facebook once again has failed to make disclosures required under the state's campaign finance laws.
Facebook already paid $238,000 in 2018 to resolve a previous dispute over political advertising in Washington state.
The company announced later that year that it would stop accepting political ads related to state or local initiatives in Washington, although it still permitted advertisements around “issues of national importance” targeting people in the state.
In a statement on Tuesday, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said that Facebook had continued selling hundreds of ads to at least 171 state political committees since 2018, in violation of its own policy.
Ferguson says the company’s Ad Library, a searchable database aimed at providing transparency around political advertising, provides some information about those ads but does not include details required under Washington law such as the name of the person paying for the ads or their precise cost.
“Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ”
