Facebook allows political candidates to run branded content

Facebook Inc said on Friday it was allowing U.S.-based political candidates to run branded content on its social networking platforms. Branded content is created by celebrities or influential personalities to promote a paid message on social media.

While Facebook requires content creators to disclose any paid partnership, it does not consider such content as advertisement since the company does not charge for it. "After hearing from multiple campaigns, we agree that there's a place for branded content in political discussion on our platforms", a company spokesman said.

Facebook said branded content from political advertisers will not be included in its Ad Library - a transparency tool for political ads - unless it is promoted using the company's advertising tools.