Facebook will mail postcards to verify ads

Facebook will soon rely on centuries-old technology, the post office, to try to prevent foreign meddling in US elections. Baffled in 2016 by Russian agents who bought ads to sway the US Presidential campaign, Facebook's global politics and government outreach director, Katie Harbath, told the National Association of Secretaries of State yesterday that the company will send postcards to potential buyers of political ads to confirm



they reside in the United States.

The recipient will then have to enter a code on Facebook to continue buying the ad. The method will first apply to ads that name candidates ahead of the midterm elections in November, says Facebook spokesman Andy Stone. The plan was unveiled a day after special counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians with interfering in the presidential election.