Washington State Files Legal Complaint Against Google, Facebook over Undisclosed Information on Political Ads

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson recently filed a lawsuit against internet giants Facebook and Google after their failure to disclose how much they earned from political ads from advertisers in the state.

The attorney general’s recent legal move is not the first effort to ask these companies to divulge information about political ad earnings from entities based in the state of Washington, according to TechCrunch

The same report recalled that earlier this year, Eli Sanders of the Seattle-based paper The Stranger asked these companies for related public records about political ad transactions but did not get the complete information mandated by law. Another individual who reportedly visited the companies’ offices to personally ask for the records in question saw the same underwhelming result.

Now, a lawsuit coming from no less than the attorney general of the Washington state is likely to change the story.

The office of the attorney general filed a complaint against Google and Facebook arguing that Washington laws require commercial advertisers to maintain a public record of advertisement transactions, according to a Monday news release.

“Washington’s political advertising disclosure laws apply to everyone, whether you are a small-town newspaper or a large corporation,” Ferguson said. “Washingtonians have a right to know who’s paying for the political advertising they see.”

The office of the AG also reiterates that state law requires advertisers to gather information on who the entities paying for any political ads are. These records must later be disclosed to the public.

Other information that advertisers like Facebook and Google must publicly disclose includes the name of the political candidate being advertised, the duration when the ad services were provided, the total cost of ads, the name and address of the person who sponsored and paid for them, and even the method of payment used.

The attorney general’s office accuses that Facebook and Google have both failed to adhere to the state law requirements. These companies have purportedly not maintained public information of “the names and addresses of all persons from whom they accepted advertising, or the total cost and manner of payment.”

Google and Facebook are now given 20 days from the time the lawsuit was filed to issue their response. If they fail to comply, the companies may face penalties and injunctive relief.