Facebook Joins NAD Self-Regulatory Program

Facebook sign
(Image credit: Facebook)

Facebook has agreed to participate in the BBB National Programs National Advertising Division (NAD) guidance program.

That is the self-regulatory process for reviewing and recommending changes, or not, to advertisements that have drawn complaints. It's recommendations are just that, but BBB National Programs points out that the vast majority of companies participating in the self-regulatory effort make changes based on those recommendations.

Related: Critics Pan Facebook Ad Ban

Facebook has been under fire in D.C. for not sufficiently vetting the political ads on its platform, and has taken steps to ramp up its oversight policies to weed out false or deceptive ads that could interfere with U.S. elections.

BBB National Programs said Facebook's decision will "strengthen truth-in-advertising enforcement on the social network's U.S. platform."

“Facebook’s advertising policies, which incorporate and go further than our Community Standards, include prohibiting misleading, exaggerated, or false claims," said Facebook head of business integrity product management Rob Leathern of the decision to join the self-regulatory initiative. "This partnership with BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division will add a new layer of proactive detection to help us identify ads that violate those policies and take action quickly.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.