Facebook Is Bringing Stricter Ad Rules to Countries With Upcoming Elections

Facebook is launching new rules and tools for curbing election interference in countries that are expected to go to the polls soon.

The social network is rolling out its political advertising tools to India, Nigeria, Ukraine, and the European Union, leading up to important elections in the respective countries, Reuters reports.

Facebook introduced the initiatives last year in light of reports that foreign entities influenced election results in the United States using the platform.

Following that revelation, Facebook instituted a rule where only advertisers that have verified their identity and location can run political or “issue” ads on the platform. It also began labeling the funding source for political ads in the United States.

Nigeria is the first country to get the updated political rules. Starting Wednesday, only advertisers that are located within Nigeria’s borders will be able to run electoral ads. Its presidential election is set to take place on February 16. The same policy will take effect in the Ukraine in February; its presidential election is March 31.

While the social network is tackling countries individually now, it hopes to have a global solution in place by the end of June.