Facebook has announced that it will prohibit ads being published on the platform relating to the forthcoming abortion referendum in Ireland this month in an attempt to stop outside influence from swaying yet another crucial national vote.

Google has gone one step further by refusing all advertising relating to the referendum on both Google and YouTube.

The referendum, due to take place later this month, will determine whether to repeal or maintain Ireland’s constitutional prohibition on abortion. Facebook claims the move comes as the referendum will occur before it can fully implement its new ad verification processes and election integrity tools.

In a blog post, the social media giant said: “Concerns have been raised about organisations and individuals based outside of Ireland trying to influence the outcome of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland by buying ads on Facebook. This is an issue we have been thinking about for some time.

“Today, as part of our efforts to help protect the integrity of elections and referendums from undue influence, we will begin rejecting ads related to the referendum if they are being run by advertisers based outside of Ireland.”

In a statement, Google said: “Following our update around election integrity efforts globally, we have decided to pause all ads related to the Irish referendum on the Eighth Amendment.”

A company spokesperson told TechCrunch that: “enforcement of the policy — which will cover referendum adverts that appear alongside Google search results and on its video sharing platform YouTube — will begin in the next 24 hours, with the pause remaining in effect through the referendum, with the vote due to take place on May 25.”

The time taken for the company’s to reach a decision has been questioned in Ireland. Irish politician James Lawless, technology spokesman for the opposition Fianna Fail party, welcomed the moves by Google and Facebook, but said “they are rushed and they are coming at the 11th hour”.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s an awful pity we couldn’t have done this six months ago.

“Some quite disingenuous ads have been going around in recent weeks targeting people who are in the middle that aren’t always from who they seem to be from.”

Facebook Under Scrutiny

Facebook has come under intense scrutiny over its ad verification processes in the past six months after it was revealed that Russian-based propaganda outfits had been misusing the advertisement options on the platform to proliferate fake news and misinformation during the 2016 US Election.

Facebook admitted last year that anywhere up to 30 million American could have been affected by Kremlin-backed propaganda.

In more recent news the social media company has been hounded by government and media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which millions of users data was harvested, abused and used to target voters with political ads. Facebook looks to be preventing any further controversy with this move during a particularly charged referendum campaign; one which many are calling a defining moment in modern Irish history.

Facebook said: “We understand the sensitivity of this campaign and will be working hard to ensure neutrality at all stages. We are an open platform for people to express ideas and views on both sides of a debate. Our goal is simple: to help ensure a free, fair and transparent vote on this important issue.”

The social media company also said that intends to deploy Election Integrity Artificial Intelligence for the referendum in a move similar to what was established in advance of recent elections in France, Germany and Italy. This technology will allow Facebook to identify fake accounts, misinformation or foreign interference; technology that would have helped dissuade the spread of fake news in the 2016 US Elections.

Google’s Transparency Plans

In a public policy blog post earlier this month, Google’s Senior Vice President of Policy, Kent Walker, outlined the company’s plans to “support… election integrity through greater advertising transparency,” to roll out new policies for U.S. election ads across its platforms, including requiring additional verification for election ad buyers, such as confirmation that an advertiser is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

However this focus on the US market leaves other regions vulnerable to election intereference — hence Google deciding to suspend all advertising around the Irish vote, albeit at the last minute.

The company has also said it will implement a disclosure system for buyers to make it clear to users who paid for specific adverts. The company is also publishing a Transparency Report later this year, as well as building a searchable library for election ads.

However, it’s not yet clear when any of these activities will be implemented out in regions where Google ads are served outside the USA.