Business Insider set up fake anti-Brexit ads attributed to Cambridge Analytica, for instance, while Vice News ran bogus ads linked to ISIS and Mike Pence. ProPublica, meanwhile, discovered that the pro-Trump "Energy4US" group was really a facade for oil giants hoping to prop up fossil fuels. Facebook said it required that people represent themselves "accurately," but the company approved all of the disclosures in spite of identity mismatches.

While it's not certain what Facebook will do to improve its identity checks, but it's under a lot of pressure to do so. Local UK elections are due in May, and rival service Twitter has stricter disclosure policies that tie disclosure to employment records and thus reduce the chances for abuse. If Facebook didn't refine its process, it risked accusations of allowing election interference campaigns that wouldn't fly elsewhere.