← the record
WF-R2NE8X

Facebook failed to block thousands of political ads with false information

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism found over 8,000 misleading ads on Facebook featuring AI-manipulated videos and false information about European politicians. The ads evaded Meta's automated and human review systems, with fewer than half removed at the time of analysis. Meta stated that its systems removed nearly all ads at the time they were run, but the investigation found ads circulating for up to 37 days. The ads promoted investment scams and used deepfakes of politicians.

Date it happened
2024-01-01
Organisation involved
Meta
Product, system or model
Facebook ad review system
Where this came from
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This incident was imported from thebureauinvestigates.com. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.