TikTok approved election misinformation ads despite its own ban, says watchdog

Just weeks before the U.S. presidential election, TikTok approved advertisements that contained election disinformation even though it has a ban on political ads, according to a report published Thursday by the nonprofit Global Witness.

The technology and environmental watchdog group submitted ads that it designed to test how well systems at social media companies work in detecting different types of election misinformation.

The group, which did a similar investigation two years ago, did find that the companies—especially Facebook—have improved their content-moderation systems since then.

But it called out TikTok for approving four of the eight ads submitted for review that contained falsehoods about the election. That’s despite the platform’s ban on all political ads in place since 2019.

The ads never appeared on TikTok because Global Witness pulled them before they went online.

“Four ads were incorrectly approved during the first stage of moderation, but did not run on our platform,” TikTok spokesman Ben Rathe said. “We do not allow political advertising and will continue to enforce this policy on an ongoing basis.”

Facebook, which is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., “did much better” and approved just one of the eight submitted ads, according to the report.

In a statement, Meta said while “this report is extremely limited in scope and as a result not reflective of how we enforce our policies at scale, we nonetheless are continually evaluating and improving our enforcement efforts.”

Google’s YouTube did the best, Global Witness said, approving four ads but not letting any publish. It asked for more identification from the Global Witness testers before it would publish them and “paused” their account when they didn’t. However, the report said it is not clear whether the ads would have gone through had Global Witness provided the required identification.

Google did not immediately respond to a message for comment.

Companies nearly always have stricter policies for paid ads than they do for regular posts from users. The ads submitted by Global Witness included outright false claims about the election—such as stating that Americans can vote online—as well as false information designed to suppress voting, like claims that voters must pass an English test before casting a ballot. Other fake ads encouraged violence or threatened electoral workers and processes.

The ads Global Witness submitted were text-based, but the group said it translated them into what it called “algospeak.” This is a widely used trick to try to bypass internet companies’ text-focused content moderation systems by substituting numbers and symbols as stand-in for letters, making it harder for automated systems to “read” the text.

—Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer

https://www.fastcompany.com/91212290/tiktok-approved-election-misinformation-ads-despite-own-ban-says-watchdog?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Created 4mo | Oct 18, 2024, 2:10:03 PM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

Are you problematic? This ‘cancel culture insurance’ could help you deal with social media backlash

Worried about getting canceled? There’s now insurance policy for that.

Insurance agency Samphire Risk is rolling out “cancel culture” insurance for celebrities and execs afraid of social

Jan 31, 2025, 2:20:07 PM | Fast company - tech
What to know about the American Airlines jet and Army helicopter that collided over D.C.

The Army helicopter and regional American Airlines jet that collided over Washington are both workhorse aircraft that operate around the world on a daily basis.

There were 60 passengers

Jan 30, 2025, 10:10:09 PM | Fast company - tech
How Apple Vision Pro is finding a home in healthcare

In early 2024, Ryan Broderick, a surgeon at UC San Diego Health, was commiserating with some colleagues about the profusion of screens in today’s operating rooms. Though the displays provided essen

Jan 30, 2025, 10:10:08 PM | Fast company - tech
If you were bored watching videos at a plodding 2x speed, you’re in luck: They can go faster

MrBeast’s fast-cutting, non-stop dramatics are already quick enough. Now, some users can watch his videos (and more) at 4x speed.

YouTube is continuing their push for pace. In a

Jan 30, 2025, 10:10:07 PM | Fast company - tech
After a week of DeepSeek freakout, doubts and mysteries remain

Welcome to AI DecodedFast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter ever

Jan 30, 2025, 7:50:02 PM | Fast company - tech
Microsoft posts 10% growth for Q4 as it plans to spend $80 billion on AI

Microsoft said Wednesday that its profit for the October-December

Jan 30, 2025, 5:30:05 PM | Fast company - tech