Facebook and Tik-Tok are approving ads with ‘blatant’ misinformation about voting in midterms

New York City: ProPublica, the investigative news organization, released a report Wednesday about how social media companies are allowing groups to publish misleading ads ahead of next month’s midterm elections. The findings show that Facebook approved dozens of ads from groups that spread untrue information about voter registration and voting processes, including claims that voting by mail allows people to vote from the grave. YouTube also allowed some political ads on its platform that were misleading or false in various ways, according to ProPublica’s analysis.

Julia Angwin is an investigative journalist and a senior reporter at ProPublica.

Julia Angwin is a senior reporter at ProPublica. She’s written three books on technology and privacy, including Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, which was named one of the best books of 2015 by The New York Times Book Review and one of NPR’s Best Books of 2015.

Angwin also worked at The Wall Street Journal as an editor, where she covered topics including identity theft and cybersecurity.

While social media companies have pledged to do more to stop the spread of misinformation on their platforms ahead of next month’s midterm elections, a new study found that Facebook, YouTube and TikTok are all allowing groups to publish misleading political ads.

Facebook, YouTube and TikTok are all allowing groups to publish misleading political ads.

While social media companies have pledged to do more to stop the spread of misinformation on their platforms ahead of next month’s midterm elections, a new study found that Facebook, YouTube and TikTok are all allowing groups to publish misleading political ads.

This is not a new problem—it has been going on for years and won’t be solved overnight (or even in 2020). The problem isn’t limited to these three companies either: Twitter was recently caught up in controversy when it was revealed that many tweets sharing fake news were approved as “authentic” by automated systems designed to prevent abuse on their platform.

In one case, Facebook approved an ad for “Vote Right USA” that falsely claims that voting by mail allows people to vote from the grave. The ad also said the United States has used voter IDs “for decades.” Experts say both claims are false.

Facebook has been accused of approving ads for Vote Right USA that falsely claim that voting by mail allows people to vote from the grave. The ad also said the United States has used voter IDs “for decades.” Experts say both claims are false.

In one case, Facebook approved an ad for “Vote Right USA” that falsely claimed that voting by mail allows people to vote from the grave. The ad also said the United States has used voter IDs “for decades.” Experts say both claims are false.

“We don’t want people sharing content on our platform that could confuse voters about what they need to do to get registered or participate in an election,” said YouTube spokeswoman Andrea Faville in response to the report. She also said that YouTube removed some ads that ran as part of this study, but did not identify which ones.

YouTube is taking steps to prevent misleading ads from running on its platform in the future.

In response to a report by researchers at Stanford and Princeton universities that found many ads for political candidates ran alongside content about voting, YouTube took action by removing some of the ads from its platform and said it will continue monitoring its advertising partners.

But some of these actions were not enough for consumer advocates who say they need more transparency about how political campaigns use social media platforms like TikTok before they can be trusted again as reliable sources of information about voting rights in America.

After ProPublica showed Facebook examples of misleading ads it had purchased, Facebook removed them, saying they violated its policies against misleading statements about voting processes. Facebook said it planned no further action against any of the groups who ran these ads or the advertisers who put them up because they were first-time infractions.

Facebook said it planned no further action against any of the groups who ran these ads or the advertisers who put them up because they were first-time infractions.

After ProPublica showed Facebook examples of misleading ads it had purchased, Facebook removed them, saying they violated its policies against misleading statements about voting processes.

Facebook said in a statement to ProPublica that “we have temporarily suspended several accounts because we received reports that those accounts were engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior related to midterms.”

The company also noted that “we have seen no evidence that these groups are working together.”

“The big picture here is that these platforms have been given a green light to be misinformative,” Angwin said. “It’s not just the little ads, it’s also the ones that are larger: The political posts with video and audio, which tend to be more effective at influencing behavior than text-only messages. And they do so without any clear oversight or transparency.”