Facebook will start blocking state-controlled media outlets from buying ads in the US this summer and is rolling out labels for ads and posts from those outlets

Axios 2020-06-05 Sara Fischer

Context & Ripple Effects

This is the third step in a ladder Facebook has been climbing since 2018: first came "Paid for by" disclosure labels on US political and issue ads, then page-owner disclosures tying pages to state-owned media, and today the escalation from transparency to restriction — state-controlled outlets will lose the ability to buy US ads outright this summer, while their organic posts get labels too.

The move lands mid-election year, when Facebook's ad integrity machinery is under scrutiny; the same apparatus was later paused entirely after November, when Facebook imposed a blanket ban on US political and issue ads before lifting it in March 2021.

First-order effects

State-controlled media outlets immediately lose paid distribution to US audiences, shrinking their ad-funded reach to whatever organic visibility survives alongside the new post labels.
Facebook's ads team must operationalize the state-media designations at scale — deciding which publishers count — the same judgment call it already made for page labels in 2019.

Second-order effects

Rival platforms face pressure to match the restriction rather than become the arbitrage channel for state-media ad dollars; Instagram's later rollout of account-level state-controlled media labels shows Facebook extending the regime across its own apps instead.
State-media publishers shift spend toward unlabeled channels and owned properties, making the label-and-block regime a targeting problem that moves faster than any single platform's enforcement.

Third-order effects

Ad access becomes an instrument of platform geopolitics: the precedent converts publisher classification from a disclosure exercise into market exclusion, which other platforms and eventually regulators can replicate or contest.
If the pattern holds, state-controlled media's US distribution gets structurally walled off behind labels and bans, pushing those outlets toward platforms and formats with weaker governance layers.

The trend: Platforms are moving from labeling state influence operations to actively restricting them, turning ad-market access into a lever of content governance.

Discussion

@ngleicher Nathaniel Gleicher on x
Today we're beginning to roll out labels on state-controlled media entities so users can understand who is behind the reporting they read. This was the result of months of close collaboration with more than 65 experts in media ecosystems and media capture.https://twitter.com/ ...
@benimmo Ben Nimmo on x
Well this is going to get interesting. @Facebook labeling “media outlets that are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government.” https://about.fb.com/...
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
Post from Facebook on their new policy to label state-controlled media. This will spark a lot of debate about what is / is not “state media” and I'm curious to hear people's thoughts (read the post before commenting; some of the framework is in there). https://about.fb.com/...
@hadas_gold Hadas Gold on x
New: Facebook is rolling out its state-media labels. In the US, users will see labels on state media posts, and info on their pages. State media also won't be allowed to buy ads in the US ahead of 2020 election (But can buy ads elsewhere) https://www.cnn.com/...
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
I personally believe this is an important step forward. Each platform has taken some steps toward a policy on state media. More transparency around where messages are coming from is important. Particularly as sensational stories go viral so quickly.
@raeuberhose Karolin Schwarz on x
YouTube has been doing this for a while now though, although some tv shows not being labeled. https://twitter.com/...
@therickwilson Rick Wilson on x
Man, Fox is in trouble now. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@chrismessina Chris Messina on x
@adrs @shiringhaffary @JeffHorwitz Is this related? Or is labeling state-media merely a less-than-half-measure? https://about.fb.com/...
@ngleicher Nathaniel Gleicher on x
Labels will be visible on the Pages of entities, on their organic posts, and in the ads library. In the months to come, we will begin blocking advertising from SCMEs into the US in advance of the 2020 US Presidential election, and rolling out labels on individual ads.
@cathyhe_et Cathy He on x
FB to start labeling Chinese state media & from summer will start blocking ads in US from state-controlled media to combat election influence. Twitter last year blocked ads by state media. But it doesn't label. YT labels but doesn't block ads. https://www.theepochtimes.com/ ...
@hadas_gold Hadas Gold on x
Among the outlets that will be labeled (this is just a portion): Russia Today, Sputnik, RIA Novosti, CCTV, Xinhua News, People's Daily, PressTV, 2Mma, DPRK Today, TV 5 Thailand, Philippine News Agency and People's Television Network https://twitter.com/...
@jmgrygiel Jennifer Grygiel on x
@davidakaye This $FB update was rushed and repurposes existing UI badly. When you click “learn more” it takes you to country locations info which is dated and incomplete for state media. This is what I'm seeing on mobile > https://twitter.com/...
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
Last week I saw content from Redfish going viral on here. A few months ago during Hong Kong protests, someone sent me a Ruptly vid, asking, “What is this? So much of it is misleading.” Joked about it being “Russian trolls”. But...Ruptly is funded by RT. They didn't know.
@jilliancyork Jillian C. York on x
@frasermatthew @kcarruthers Funny how those technical errors have never resulted in a brief and temporary, yet timely removal of Trump.
@emilybell Emily Bell on x
This is a helpful development - the next move should be to do the same for ‘news media properties’ controlled or funded by PACs or political lobbying interests https://about.fb.com/...
@charlesmok @charlesmok on x
Why is Facebook only stopping these state-controlled media from sponsoring posts to target US audience? Are you not protecting other users in the world? Facebook Starts Labeling Russian, Chinese, And Iranian State Media https://www.rferl.org/...
@mommamia1217 @mommamia1217 on x
@Arriadna @Facebook @fbnewsroom If it wasn't for my family, I would NEVER go on Facebook. I find it to be completely and utterly despicable. They are so irresponsible with information they don't deserve even deserve their platform.
@mplsme @mplsme on x
“State-controlled media outlets rarely advertise in the US.” Facebook will also label those media outlets, giving users more information about who owns/runs them. But it isn't clear if ANY media outlet in US (e.g. FoxNews) will be included in this. 1/2 https://www.cnbc.com/...
@prettyhatmech @prettyhatmech on x
By these criteria @Facebook must now label @BBC as state controlled media. The government controls @BBC funding. https://about.fb.com/...
@kevincollier Kevin Collier on x
Others I've talked to who track foreign influence operations have noticed some exploitation of the protests that follow George Floyd's killing, but exacerbating existing US tensions is a daily drum, and none have noticed anything meaningful compared to genuine American response. …
@sanjanah Sanjana Hattotuwa on x
As it stands, #Facebook's new policy quite useless in #srilanka, where major private TV broadcasters are extensions of the State. Their partisan footprint on Facebook, incl campaign propaganda, dominates news/info framing, dwarfing State-owned media. https://twitter.com/... #lka …
@defenddemocracy @defenddemocracy on x
Dear @Facebook, we appreciate the effort, but: * It's too little, too late: it's so 2016 * State-controlled media is only the tip of the iceberg * Why label only visible in ~10% (namely U.S.) users news feed? https://about.fb.com/...
@arriadna @arriadna on x
Too little too late @Facebook @fbnewsroom, leaving posts that incite violence up for days and weeks and Trump posts untouched even with a label is unacceptable #BoycottFacebook https://twitter.com/...
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
There are interesting dynamics around state media ads on Facebook in particular. When the post is boosted, people are receiving a pushed communication from an outlet they've never sought out, and are unfamiliar with. The state media label, meanwhile, was only on the Page itself.
@ethanz Ethan Zuckerman on x
I'm one of the “experts” they consulted, and I told them this would be total bullshit if they labeled Al Jazeera as state controlled media but exempted Voice of America and related entities. Watch this closely and see if they have the guts to label US-based media. https://twitter…
@frankluntz Frank Luntz on x
“The company hasn't seen many examples yet of foreign governments using advertising to promote manipulative content to U.S. users. But the platform is taking this action out of an abundance of caution ahead of the 2020 election.” https://twitter.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
From our survey of protest-related propaganda: “We have seen no evidence, from our own research or the public research of others, to suggest that the current protests have been driven by misinformation or foreign actors instead of legitimate grievances.” https://cyber.fsi.stanfor…
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of security policy, says FB hasn't really seen examples yet of foreign state-backed outlets using ads to promote manipulative content to US users, but FB is taking this action out of an abundance of caution ahead of the 2020 election. https://t…

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