NEW YORK: Ahead of general elections in Pakistan and other countries, CEO Facebook Mark Zuckerberg on Friday made an important announcement, saying transparency would be ensured in requiring the political ads on its social media platform to clearly state who is paying for the message and the identity of the payer would also be verified.

The announcement is being considered as an important development in the face of general elections in Pakistan and other countries as the  social networking giant is reportedly under fire over allegedly enabling manipulation of its platform in the 2016 elections in some countries.

Mark Zuckerberg added that the new policy would require any messages for candidates or public issues to include the label "political ad" with the name of the person or entity paying for it.

"We´re starting this in the US and expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months," Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

"With important elections coming up in the US, Mexico, Brazil, India, Pakistan and more countries in the next year, one of my top priorities for 2018 is making sure we support positive discourse and prevent interference in these elections," Zuckerberg revealed in an official post on Facebook.