San Francisco (CNN Business) Bill Gates waded into the debate over political ads on social media platforms during an interview Wednesday, calling for some limitations while also siding with those who say the companies should not play the role of fact-checker.

Facebook FB Twitter TWTR In the lead up to the 2020 US elections,andhave been under intense scrutiny over how they handle misleading or false political ads. They've been criticized for not subjecting such ads to fact-checking by third parties, instead leaving it to the media and users to flag falsehoods.

Gates, for his part, says the problem is how political ads might be tailored and targeted with messages that will never be viewed beyond a small audience.

"I think that targeting, in that domain essentially, should not be allowed," Gates said at the The New York Times' DealBook conference. "It's the targeting where you don't see the hate ad that just appeals to that one person. It's the targeting that's really screwed this thing up."

However, he said he doesn't think the platforms should be responsible for policing the content of these ads.

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