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Facebook approved ads with coronavirus misinformation in test

Consumer Reports conducted a test in which they created seven Facebook ads containing false and dangerous coronavirus claims, including one encouraging people to drink bleach. Facebook's automated ad screening system approved all seven ads. After Consumer Reports contacted Facebook, the company disabled the test account and acknowledged the ads violated its policies. The ads were not published to the public.

Date it happened
2020-04-01
Organisation involved
Facebook
Where this came from
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This incident was imported from consumerreports.org. 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.