Facebook took in more than $1 million for advertising that spread election lies

Just six days before the 2024 presidential election, Facebook is running hundreds of ads from pages that falsely claim that the upcoming election could be rigged or postponed. Facebook parent company Meta's ad library shows that the pages behind the ads paid the company more than $1 million to run them. They have racked up a bill of more than $350,000 for the ads they ran last week.

One of the ads features a stylized image of Vice President Kamala Harris with devil horns and a burning American flag behind her. Other ads feature images of Harris and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz with post-apocalyptic scenes, as well as images of Walz and President Biden mixed with images of prescription drugs spilling from bottles. One shows an apparently AI-generated image of a smiling Harris in a hospital room, preparing to give a shot to a screaming child. Another features images of anti-vaxxer and third-party candidate RFK Jr. Some of the ads question whether Harris will remain in the race and suggest that America is “heading toward another civil war.”

Meta's election rules prohibit posts that contain “misinformation about the dates, locations, times, and methods of voting” and “misinformation about whether or not a candidate is running,” and its advertising rules prohibit ads that “improve the legitimacy of an upcoming election in Ask a Question”. or ongoing elections.”

Many of the ads direct viewers to a page where they can purchase writings by Jim Rickards, a fringe economist turned conspiracy theorist and proponent of the New World Order conspiracy theory. Others direct people to a page that falsely claims that a “university party” will win the election for Big Pharma.”

Meta spokesman Ryan Daniels said: “We review the ads and will remove any ads that violate our policies.” Rickards did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Forbes identified the false ads through the Meta Ad Library, a live repository of ads served on the company's platforms that contain details about political advertisers and their spending. Forbes No parallel ads were found in Google's ad library. TikTok and (In a previous life, I held content policy positions at Facebook and Spotify.)

Meta has a long history of misinformation about elections. In 2016, the Russian Internet Research Agency used both ads and “organic” posts on Facebook to manipulate and divide U.S. voters and steer them toward Donald Trump’s candidacy. In 2020, Facebook and WhatsApp were widely used by disgruntled supporters of former President Trump to spread “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theories and to stage the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Since 2021, Meta has dramatically reduced the number of political posts it delivers to users – which could increase the effectiveness of paid political ads in targeting Facebook users with a candidate or party's message. This year, Vice President Kamala Harris significantly exceeded former President Donald Trump's spending on Facebook ads.

In 2020, Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan donated more than $400 million to nonpartisan election integrity groups, including the Center for Election Innovation and Research and the Center for Tech and Civic Life. The groups focus on improving election infrastructure and do not endorse candidates.

In 2024, a publishing company co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and MAGA influencer Sergio Gor began selling a coffee-table book written by Trump that claimed Zuckerberg had plotted against him in 2020. The book said of Zuckerberg: “We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.” Trump has also called Zuckerberg an “enemy of the people” and said, that his newfound resistance to a ban on TikTok (which he first tried to ban in 2020) stems from his desire to stop Meta from becoming more powerful.

Zuckerberg does not appear to have continued his election integrity campaign in 2024. However, he called Trump a “tough guy” after the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. Trump claimed that Zuckerberg called him and told him that he “couldn't vote for a Democrat” in the upcoming election. Meta didn't deny the call, but said Zuckerberg didn't say anything about how he would vote.

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