Data privacy is not the only problem with which technology companies have recently been confronted.
Foreign interference in US elections through internet advertising has also proven to be a major puzzle for technology giants such as Google, Twitter and Facebook.
Facebook's plan to solve the problem is to increase transparency. The company will allow users to see which organization is behind the announcement, what their political affiliations are, how many impressions the ad has received and even how much money is spent there.
This information would remain public for four years after the initial broadcast of the advertisements.
While Facebook may have problems with political ads, Google has been a little silent on the subject.
That changes now, though. In an article published today, Google 's Kent Walker has reviewed the company' s plan to increase advertising transparency.
Advertisers will be required to "confirm that they are US citizens" or a legal permanent resident before an election announcement is approved.
The first step of this plan involves a mandatory "additional check" for anyone who chooses to buy an election advertisement via Google in the United States.
Specifically, advertisers will be required to "confirm that they are US citizens" or a legal permanent resident before their election announcement is approved.
Similar to Facebook, Google will also require that election campaigners include a "clear disclosure of who pays [for the ad]," but it is unclear exactly what this entails.
Google does not stop there, though. "This summer, we will also be releasing a new transparency report specifically focused on election advertising," Walker wrote in his blog. "This report will describe who buys election-related ads on our platforms and how much money is spent."
Google also says that they will build a "searchable library" for election ads, where everyone will be able to peruse paid election ads via Google and easily find out who has paid for them.
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