Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is suing Google and Facebook, saying the companies failed to maintain information about political advertising as required by state law.
According to the lawsuits, filed in state court Monday, Washington law requires the companies to maintain information about buyers of political ads, the cost, how they pay for it, and the candidate or ballot measure at issue. That information must be available to the public upon request.
Ferguson says neither Facebook nor Google kept all those records or made them public, even though Washington candidates and political committees have spent nearly $5 million to advertise on those platforms in the past decade.
Google did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Facebook said Ferguson "has raised important questions" and the company looks forward to resolving the matter.
“The tools we are introducing set a new standard for transparency in digital advertising. We are eager to hear people’s feedback as they use these features and will continue to explore how to build upon them to ensure people know who is behind the political ads they see on Facebook. Attorney General Ferguson has raised important questions and we look forward to resolving this matter with his office quickly," said Rob Leathern, Director of Product Management, in a statement.