ZUCK OUT OF LUCK: Judge Delivers Devastating Blow To Facebook In Major Lawsuit, ‘On Behalf of The People of Washington…’

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A Washington state court has ruled that Facebook broke the state’s campaign-ad transparency laws on multiple occasions and must pay damages.

The attorney general of Washington state, Bob Ferguson, lambasted Facebook’s “cynical attempt” to weaken state campaign finance laws, stating that the Masters of the Universe must “follow the rules.”

Ferguson said the ruling should send a message to Facebook and other big tech companies that they are not above the law.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for accountability and transparency in our elections,” Ferguson said. “It is vital that people know who is paying for the political ads they see on Facebook and other social media platforms. My office will continue to hold Facebook and other companies accountable for following our laws.”

The ruling is the latest in a series of defeats for Facebook in its attempts to avoid disclosure requirements around political ads. In February, a federal judge ruled that Facebook had violated federal election law by failing to disclose who paid for political ads on its platform.

And in April, the Federal Election Commission fined Facebook $5 million for similar violations.

The Washington state case began in May 2018, when Ferguson sued Facebook for failing to disclose the identities of the people or organizations behind more than $6 million in political advertising that ran on the platform during the 2016 election cycle.

Ferguson alleged that Facebook’s failure to disclose the identities of the people or organizations behind the ads violated the state’s campaign finance laws, which require disclosure of the “true source” of political advertising.

In his ruling, Judge Steven C. González found that Facebook had acted “intentionally and willfully” in violation of the state law.

“This is a company that professes to care about transparency and accountability, yet it has flagrantly violated our state’s campaign finance laws and shown a disregard for the important role disclosure plays in our democracy,” Ferguson said. “I will continue to hold Facebook accountable for its actions.”

Facebook must pay a $200,000 penalty and disclose the identities of the people or organizations behind the ads. The company must also set up a system to ensure that future political ads comply with the state law.

The ruling is a significant victory for Ferguson, who has made holding big tech companies accountable for their actions a central focus of his tenure as attorney general.

“On behalf of the people of Washington, I challenge Facebook to accept this decision and do something very simple — follow the law,” Feguson said, making his stance clear on not only Facebook, but all big tech-companies who want to take advantage of their extraordinary power and influence.

The decision comes after an investigation in 2016 by the state attorney general’s office found that Facebook failed to disclose who was paying for over $3 million worth of political ads during the 2016 election cycle.

“Our investigation found that Facebook violated our state’s campaign finance laws by failing to disclose who was paying for political ads on its platform,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a statement.

“Facebook must follow our state law like everyone else.”

“We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to hold Facebook and other big tech companies accountable for following our laws,” Ferguson said. “No one is above the law, not even Mark Zuckerberg.”