Google said it wouldn’t run political ads in Washington state after it agreed to settle claims that it violated campaign finance laws. Then dozens more candidates and political committees reported paying Google for political ads.
This image taken from the exhibits in a lawsuit Washington state filed against Google purportedly shows a political ad published by Google.
(CN) Google didn’t keep records of who paid for political ads in Washington state even after paying over $200,000 in 2018 to settle identical claims, according to a new lawsuit filed Wednesday by the state attorney general.
Washington state law requires publishers to keep records of who bought the political ads they run, and to make that information available within 24 hours of publishing to anyone requesting it. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Google in 2018, claiming the company didn’t maintain or make publicly available information on who paid for the political ads it ran, in violation of Washingto