Thread by @elijsanders

Washington state is about to become the first place in the U.S. where Facebook and Google won't sell local election ads. How'd that happen? A thread:

thestranger.com/slog/2018/12/1…

It begins decades ago, before the internet existed—before Mark Zuckerberg was even alive.

In 1972, amid disgust at Nixon-era corruption, Washington voters overwhelmingly approved a law bringing daylight to the financing of political campaigns.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/01/0…

This landmark transparency law requires campaigns in Washington state *and* the companies that sell local political advertising to make significant disclosures to the public.

If that sounds like a wild idea, it's not.

Federal law has long required television and radio stations, for example, to disclose who's funding political ads aimed at national elections.

But more than two years after Russians bought targeted online ads in rubles to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Congress has declined to expand these federal disclosure requirements to digital platforms.

With lawmakers in DC deciding to keep this gap in federal regulations wide open, I wondered whether local laws could be used to force tech giants to disclose the money trail for state-level election ads, along with the ads' often narrow targeting information.

So in the winter of 2017, I walked into the Seattle offices of Facebook and Google and presented the companies with a law that says they have to disclose local election ad data.

I requested information on ads that targeted Seattle municipal elections. They never sent it to me.

As a result, in February of 2018 Seattle's top election regulator declared Facebook to be in violation of the law.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/02/0…

Then, in June, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Facebook and Google for failing to disclose local election ad information to me—and for other violations of Washington's landmark 1972 transparency law over many years.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/06/0…

A few days later, Google announced it would stop selling political ads aimed at Washington state's elections:

thestranger.com/slog/2018/06/0…

But Facebook kept on selling political ads in Washington state, and its lobbyists, along with lobbyists for Google, set out to try to change state regulations to their liking.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/09/2…

That effort failed when, on November 29, the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission voted unanimously to affirm this state's strong transparency laws and issued a "final rule" on political ads that takes effect January 1.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/11/2…

Facebook had claimed its "Political Ad Archive," launched in May, provides all the information that Washington law requires Facebook to reveal.

But on November 30, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson made clear he has a very different view.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/12/1…

Then, earlier this week, on December 18, Facebook and Google said they would pay Washington state a collective $455,000 to settle Attorney General Ferguson's lawsuits—without admitting guilt for local election ad disclosure violations.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/12/1…

In an interview after the settlement was announced, I asked Attorney General Ferguson whether Facebook's "Political Ad Archive" meets the requirements of current state law, never mind the new "final rule" that takes effect January 1.

Ferguson's answer: "No."

And, Attorney General Ferguson said, if Facebook or Google violate this state's political ad disclosure laws in the future, "they’re going to hear from us again.”

The following day—which was yesterday—Facebook announced it will join Google in halting political ad sales in Washington state.

thestranger.com/slog/2018/12/1…