Google stops political ads in Washington following lawsuit

Thursday was also the day changes to campaign-finance reporting requirements took effect.

  • By Wire Service
  • Thursday, June 7, 2018 11:12am
  • Northwest

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Google stopped accepting political ads in Washington on Thursday, the day changes to the state’s campaign-finance reporting requirements and enforcement procedures took effect.

Google’s action Thursday came just days after state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the company, along with Facebook, saying the tech firms are not obeying state law on political-ad transparency, The Seattle Times reported.

Thursday is also the day a new law that alters elements of the state’s campaign finance laws took effect.

The state Public Disclosure Commission issued regulations related to that bill and passed an emergency rule that clarified that digital ad companies like Google are subject to state law requiring them to maintain publicly available information about political ads, just like television stations and other media.

Two lawsuits filed in King County Superior Court on Monday say the companies have for years been in violation of the law that requires them to keep detailed records about who is paying for online political ads on their platforms.

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