But Zuckerberg remains open to ideas about how to curb the spread of false ads, including limiting the ability of candidates to target narrow groups of users, an issue that has been a key sticking point for the Federal Election Commission, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
Zuckerbergs refusal to buckle to public pressure over Facebook's handling of political advertising has fueled a wide-ranging debate about the role social media firms play in the spread of misinformation.
Facebook and Zuckerberg have argued that political ads allow lesser-known candidates to gain attention and build followings that bigger candidates already have.
From a business perspective, the controversy certainly isnt worth the small part of our business they make up, Zuckerberg said in a recent speech at Georgetown University. But political ads are an important part of voice, especially for local candidates, up-and-coming challengers, and advocacy groups that may not get much media attention otherwise.
Many politicians, civil rights groups and consumer advocacy organizations have called on Facebook to fact-check candidate ads and remove any that contain falsehoods.
Zuckerberg has said repeatedly that he does not think technology companies should be in the position of determining what is true and what is false in candidates' ads.
Facebook could find a middle ground in limiting how political campaigns use the companys advertising platform, in particular limiting the ability to show ads to particular groups of people, a practice known as microtargeting.
In an op-ed article for The Washington Post published last week, Weintraub said that Facebook should not ban political advertising.