Facebook says it won't back down from allowing lies in political ads

In this presidential election year, no big changes are planned in policies governing political advertising

Facebook said on Thursday that it would not make any major changes to its political advertising policies, which allow lies in ads, despite pressure from lawmakers who say the company is abdicating responsibility for what appears on its platform. 

The decision, which company executives had telegraphed in recent months, is likely to harden criticism of Facebook's political ad practices heading into this year's presidential election.

The company also said it would not end so-called microtargeting for political ads, which lets campaigns home in on a sliver of Facebook’s users - a tactic that critics say is ideal for spreading divisive or misleading