TikTok and Facebook approve ads with US election information, reveals new study

Washington DC – Tiktok and Facebook Approved ads containing obvious US election Falids just weeks before the vote revealed a guard dog investigation on Thursday, questioning the policy of the technical platforms to detect malicious disinformation.

The Global Witness Prosecution Group submitted eight ads containing false vocal requirements to Chinese-Owned video sharing app tiktok, meta-owned facebook and google-owned Youtube To test their advertising systems in the final stretch of the November 5 election.

The ads bore justice falsehoods – which people can vote online – as well as content that promote voter suppression, urges violence against a candidate and threatening election workers and processes.

TikTok performed the worst, “said Global Witness, approving four of them despite its policy that prohibits all political ads.

Facebook approved one of the ads.

“Days away from a tightly fought US presidential election, it is shocking that social media companies still approve thoroughly debunked and obvious disinformation on their platforms,” ​​said Ava Lee, the digital threat campaign leader at Global Witness.

The study comes when researchers warn of the growing dangers of disinformation – both from domestic actors and foreign influence operations – during a dense rampart between the democratic challenger vice president Kamala Harris and Republican nominated Donald Trump.

“By 2024, everyone knows the risk of electoral information and how important it is to have moderate quality in place,” Lee said.

“There is no excuse for these platforms to still put democratic processes at risk.”

A spokeswoman for Tiktok said that four of these ads “incorrectly approved during the first step of moderation.”

“We do not allow political advertising and will continue to enforce this policy continuously,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Meta drove back to the results and said that they were based on a small selection of ads and therefore “does not reflect how we enforce our policy on a scale.”

“Protecting the 2024 election is one of our highest priorities,” she added.

Global witness said that the ad approved by Facebook claimed falsely that only people with a valid driver’s license can vote.

Several US states require voters to provide a photo ID but do not say it must be a driver’s license.

Global witness said that Youtube originally approved half of the advertisements submitted but blocked their publication until formal identification, such as a passport or driver’s license, was provided.

The guard dog called that a “much more robust barrier for disinformation tensioners” compared to the other platforms.

Platforms are facing growing review after the chaotic spread of disinformation in the aftermath of the 2020 election, with Trump and his supporters who challenge the result after his defeat to Joe Biden.

Google said on Thursday that it will “temporarily pause ads” related to the elections after the latest polls closed on November 5.

The technical giant said that the measure, which was also introduced during the 2020 election, was expected to last a few weeks and was carried out “by an abundance of caution and limit the potential for confusion”, given the probability that the vote will continue after election day.

Separately, META has said that it will block new political ads during the last week of the election campaign.