With the realization of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, consumers are more interested in who is funding and organizing the political advertisements on their social media feeds. Because of this, social platforms such as Facebook have put into place stricter political advertising policies.

For Facebook, any advertiser looking to run an “election-related or issue ad” must comply with an authorization process that includes identity and location confirmation. To confirm that the advertiser has a U.S. location, Facebook will require the advertiser to enter its address, then sends a letter to the address. The letter then directs advertisers to a URL where it must enter a code included in the letter. In addition to the above, Facebook will also require advertisers to upload an image of their U.S. driver’s license, state identification card or passport, enter their ZIP Code, and the last four digits of their social security number.

In addition to the stricter policies put in place by the social platforms themselves, some states have added their own laws regarding online political advertising. California has enacted California’s 2018 Social Media DISCLOSE Act, which requires online platforms to include “paid for by” disclaimers or hyperlinks to payers’ identifying information in certain California political advertisements. New York introduced the Democracy Protection Act, which has similar disclaimer requirements as California, but also requires platforms to create databases for independent-expenditure advertisements, and also requires platforms to verify that independent-expenditure advertisers are registered with the state board of elections.

Some of these restrictions are not new – as they have been in place in one form or another for other media platforms; however this is just the start of a greater, more transparent view into political advertising on social platforms in the coming years.