A man is running for governor so he can run false ads on Facebook

A California man is taking activism to a new level by running for governor to challenge Facebook's false ads policy.

Adriel Hampton registered as a candidate in California's 2022 gubernatorial election on Monday so he could run fake ads of his own on Facebook.

Facebook's policy allows politicians, including candidates running for public office, to run ads on its platform that are not fact-checked, while ads from groups that are not politicians are subject to fact-checking.

Hampton isn't a stranger to politics. He serves as the treasurer of "The Really Online Lefty League" PAC. The group posted a fake ad on Facebook last week claiming Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham endorsed the Green New Deal.

Hampton has been vocal on social media about his intention to run false ads, hoping Facebook would listen and reverse the policy. Instead, Facebook is excluding him from the policy and said his ads will be fact-checked.

"This person has made clear he registered as a candidate to get around our policies, so his content, including ads, will continue to be eligible for third-party fact-checking," a Facebook spokesperson told CNN.

Hampton is not backing down. The gubernatorial candidate said on CNN Facebook has "made a policy specific to me and I am running for California governor to regulate Facebook."

Hampton said that he is "pursuing advice on potential legal action against Facebook."

He isn't stopping there, either. He plans to recruit candidates from all over the country to run their own false ads on Facebook.

Hampton's first ad for his gubernatorial campaign will include factual information and with the spotlight on him, "it means fact checkers will look at what we produce," he said.

"We'll keep going until Facebook has to change and treat everyone the same," he said.