Written by Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury should do more to ensure big tech companies including Meta Platforms and Alphabet comply with sanctions against foreign companies that advertise on their platforms, a leading lawmaker said on Monday. stated.
Democratic US Senator mark warnerThe chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying the department is failing to “ensure sanctions compliance in the digital advertising market.”
In his letter, he said U.S. technology companies such as Alphabet, which owns Google, and Meta, which owns Facebook, “continue to ignore U.S. sanctions rules.” The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
Warner said technology companies continue to provide ad tech services to sanctioned entities with deep ties to countries he calls “foreign adversaries,” including Russia and Iran.
Among the examples cited in Warner’s letter are that Google served ads to sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies, and for what Warner called “adverse activities targeting elections in Moldova.” There were media and public reports in late 2023 that pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor used Facebook ads.
Warner noted that with elections scheduled for this year in many countries, including the United States, it is important for the Treasury Department to “ensure compliance with U.S. sanctions.”
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Nick Zieminski and David Ljungren)