Facebook to grant access to targeting information about political ads

Facebook said Monday it will launch a new tool next week that will grant access for researchers regarding the targeting information used for social issues, electoral and political ads.

The Facebook Open Research and Transparency (FORT) platform will allow researchers to review data about ads including those that ran during the three-month period leading up to Election Day.

“By making the targeting criteria, such as location and interests, selected by advertisers running social issue, electoral or political ads available for analysis and reporting, we hope to help people better understand the practices used to reach potential voters on Facebook,” the social media giant said in a blog post.