Washington AG: Facebook gave false information during election campaign | WJHL
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SEATTLE (AP) – Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said a Facebook representative provided false testimony in a lawsuit accusing the company of breaking state laws on the campaign financing.
The Seattle Times reports that in court records, the Democratic attorney general said the social media giant and its lawyers knew the testimony was false.
Ferguson sued Facebook last year, for the second time, alleging the company “repeatedly and openly” violated state campaign transparency laws by selling political ads without providing legally required details of spending .
“Facebook is a commercial advertiser, but it considers itself above this law,†Ferguson writes in a new brief. “Even after a previous trial and the initial complaint in this case, he still refuses to provide the public with access to all required information on political advertisements.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
The company argued that Washington’s campaign finance laws are unconstitutional and violate both First Amendment free speech protections and the Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the power to regulate the interstate commerce.
In a court file, Facebook said it did not provide false testimony because the problem posed by the attorney general’s office was beyond the agreed scope and timing of the interrogation.
Washington’s strict campaign finance laws require ad sellers such as Facebook to disclose specific information about the names and addresses of the people who buy the ads, who are targeting the ads, and the total views of each ad.
Facebook calls the law “onerous” and says it violates the First Amendment by requiring the company to disclose information about political speech – information about who buys political ads – that it wouldn’t do otherwise.