Protesters rally at Facebook HQ over political ads

Demonstrators rallied outside Facebook headquarters on Thursday to protest the social media company's announcement that it will not ban, fact-check or limit targeting of political ads during the 2020 presidential election.

Facebook said it will offer users slightly more control over how many political ads they see and make its online library of political ads easier to browse.

Those steps didn't appear to assuage critics - including politicians, activists, tech competitors and some of the company's own rank-and-file employees - who say Facebook has too much power and that social media is warping democracy and undermining elections.

Facebook's stance stands in contrast to what its rivals are doing.

Google has decided to limit targeting of political ads, while Twitter is banning them outright.

Social media companies have been trying to tackle misinformation since it was learned that Russians bankrolled thousands of fake political ads during the 2016 elections to sow discord among Americans.

The fears go beyond foreign interference. In recent months, Facebook, Twitter and Google refused to remove a misleading video ad from President Donald Trump's campaign that targeted Democrat lawmaker Joe Biden.

TV stations and networks aren't required to fact-check ads either, but social media gives candidates a certain advantage: the ability to "microtarget" their ads.

Facebook said in a blog post on Thursday that it considered limiting microtargeting for political ads.

But it said it learned about the importance of such practices for reaching "key audiences" after talking with political campaigns from both major parties in the US, political groups and nonprofits.