TikTok and Facebook approve ads with false information about US elections, NGO says

The organization Global Witness sent eight pieces with false claims to sites like TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, with the aim of testing them before the November 5 election.

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According to Global Witness, TikTok “performed poorly” by allowing four of these ads to run despite banning ads for political purposes, while Facebook approved one in eight ads.

“With a fierce US election just days away, it’s shocking that social media companies continue to endorse blatant and completely discredited misinformation on their platforms,” ​​said Ava Lee, global witness lead on campaign digital threats.

“By 2024, everyone will know the danger of election misinformation and the importance of quality content assessment,” he added.

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Lee said there is “no excuse” for these sites to “continue to endanger the democratic process”.

A TikTok spokesperson told AFP that the four ads were “misauthorized in the first phase of evaluation” and that the app – owned by the China-based company – would continue to ban political ads.

A spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company, Meta, questioned the study’s results, saying it was based on a small sample of ads and therefore “does not reflect how (Meta) applies our policies at scale.”

YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, initially approved about half of the ads, but blocked them from running until they were identified. Global Witness assesses that “there is a remarkably strong deterrent to those who spread misinformation.”

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Google said Thursday it will “temporarily suspend” ads related to the U.S. election after voting closes on Nov. 5, just like in 2020.