A Gubernatorial Candidate Tests Facebook’s Fact-Checking Policy

A man in California is running for governor for the sole purpose of challenging Facebook’s political ad policy, which exempts politicians’ campaign materials from fact checking that applies to other ads on the platform. Adriel Hampton is a political activist who works with The Really Online Lefty League PAC, which ran a false ad on Facebook to challenge the ad policy last week. The ad featured edited audio of Sen. Lindsey Graham that made it falsely sound like he supported the Green New Deal; the ad was removed by Facebook because ads run by PACs are subject to fact checking. Hampton then registered for the California 2022 gubernatorial race to circumvent the policy as a politician, with the goal of challenging the platform to change its terms. "My immediate goal is getting Facebook to stop exempting politicians from fact-checking and repercussions for lying on the platform. Equal treatment,” he said. A Facebook spokesperson said that Hampton won’t get the same treatment as other political candidates. "This person has made clear he registered as a candidate to get around our policies, so his content, including ads, will continue to be eligible for third-party fact-checking,” the spokesperson said. Hampton said that because the company made a policy specific to him, he will “immediately seek all available legal options” including suing the company. Facebook has come under scrutiny in the past few weeks for its policy, especially after CEO Mark Zuckerberg was questioned by Congress for its role in spreading misinformation. Sen. Mark Warner said that the lack of fact checking on political ads undermined the American values of "transparency, public deliberation and debate, openness, diversity of opinion, and accountability." Zuckerberg has defended the ad policy choice, saying that it allows people to hear the voices of politicians and decide for themselves about false claims. "The reason for [this policy] is that we believe that in a democracy, it is important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying. Political speech is some of the most scrutinized speech already in the world,” he said. Facebook is also facing internal criticism, as more than 200 employees recently signed a letter raising concerns about the ad policy. [CNN Business; WAVE 3; CNET]

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS | A bill in the New York legislature would require the state to pay those who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned a sum of $1 million per year that they were incarcerated. According to the bill, 214 people in New York have been exonerated for wrongful convictions since 1989. The total years served for those exonerated was over 2,000, and averaged over nine years per person. According to the bill text, those who are wrongfully convicted emerge with no money and few job skills. “They may need extensive therapy, have medical issues, or simply be too old to participate significantly in the work force. It is imperative that the State compensate these individuals for the time they have been wrongfully incarcerated and give them the ability to make a fresh start in the years remaining to them,” the bill reads. The Exonerated Five, formerly known as the Central Park Five, a group of men who were wrongfully convicted of beating and raping a woman in 1989, have spoken in support of the bill. “The system is still broken. We’ve got to make sure that we do everything in our ability to make it right, and if we don’t do everything in our ability, it will continue to be broken,” said Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five. In 2014, the city paid the group $41 million to settle a lawsuit regarding their wrongful convictions. [PIX 11; NY Daily News]

EXELON | Maryland has entered into an agreement with dam owner Exelon that will require the energy company to invest more than $200 million in environmental projects. The money will be used to improve water quality in the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, said state Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. “This agreement charts a bold course for clean water and climate resiliency in the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay,” he said. The settlement comes after the company and the state argued for a year over debris that flowed into the bay through a dam operated by Exelon. The company sued Maryland last year over a new water permit that would require Exelon to reduce pollution passing through its dam. The agreement settles that lawsuit. Exelon CEO Chris Crane said the investment would "substantially improve water quality while ensuring Maryland’s largest source of renewable energy continues to deliver environmental and economic benefits for the next generation.” [Associated Press; Baltimore Sun]

ELECTION LAWS | The Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill that would revamp elements of the state’s election laws and provide financial aid to counties to support the purchasing of new voting machines. Changes include allowing anyone to vote by mail and moving the voter registration deadline back to 15 days before the election date. Counties will get $90 million for new machines. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said he will sign the bill. “It's a giant leap forward that makes voting more convenient for millions of Pennsylvanians and improves our election security,” Wolf said. Many Democrats in the legislature voted against it, saying that the improvements don’t go far enough to expand voter access, and protesting a portion of the bill that will eliminate a straight-party ballot voting option, which they said is used by many low-income and minority voters. “The rush to achieve this measure in an abbreviated amount of time is concerning to me and, I think, should be concerning to all,” said state Sen. Vincent Hughes. But Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, a Republican, said that the steps forward were worth the trade-offs. ”Ultimately, this is the most significant modernization of our elections code in decades,” Corman said. [Associated Press; Philadelphia Inquirer]

NCAA | The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced this week that they will allow student athletes to make a profit off of their names, imagines, and likenesses. The move came after California passed a law empowering student athletes to hire agents and enter into promotional deals, which spurred at least a dozen states to consider similar legislation. Michael V. Drake, chair of the NCAA board and president of The Ohio State University, said that the organization needs to embrace change. “Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education,” he said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the organization is taking a step in the right direction. “The NCAA deserves credit for finally affirming what has been common sense to so many for so long. California will be closely watching as the NCAA’s process moves forward to ensure the rules ultimately adopted are aligned with the legislation we passed this year,” he said. [CNBC; CBS Los Angeles]