Facebook will resume its political donations after more than a four-month pause but will keep the ban in place for members of Congress who voted against certifying the results of the election in the wake of the insurrection at the Capitol, according to a Facebook spokesperson.
Facebook’s public policy director, Brian Rice, told employees in an internal message Thursday that it has decided to resume most political contributions.
“As a result of our review, the FBPAC Board has decided to resume contributions, but not to any members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election following the events at the Capitol on January 6,” Rice said in an internal note, first reported by BuzzFeed News. “While a contribution to a candidate for office does not mean that we agree with every policy or position that a candidate may espouse, we believe this decision is appropriate given the unprecedented events in January.”
The social media giant in January was among companies that paused political spending after the deadly riot at the Capitol. At the time, the company said it was pausing contributions as it reviewed its policies.
The update to the policy means the Silicon Valley giant will not donate to the 8 senators and 139 House members who voted against certifying the election results to confirm President Biden’s win.
Seven House Republicans, led by the ranking member of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee Rep. Ken Buck (Colo.), last month pledged to reject donations from Facebook, as well as Google, Amazon, Apple and Twitter.
Five of the other Republicans who joined the pledge would not be eligible for Facebook’s donations under the new policy because they challenged the certification of votes.
Google and Amazon had previously announced policies to pause donations to lawmakers who voted against certifying the election results.