Facebook Allowed Questionable Ads in German Election Despite Warnings

[DonViejo]

CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to ensure the campaign’s integrity, but the company didn’t take down anti-Green party posts of unknown origin.

by Stefanie Dodt, special to ProPublica, Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin, ProPublica Oct. 18, 1:20 p.m. EDT

On Sept. 15, nine days before the elections in Germany, the Green party complained to Facebook about a popular series of attack ads deriding its stances on gender-neutral bathrooms, electric cars and other topics. The party accused the advertiser, Greenwatch, of providing false contact information on its Facebook page and blog, which would violate a German Media Authority regulation requiring accurate contact information. But Facebook didn’t take down the ads or trace their origins. And after the election, Greenwatch disappeared. Its website and Facebook page were deleted, leaving behind only the nine Greenwatch ads that were captured by ProPublica’s Political Ad Collector, a tool that enables Facebook users to collect political ads that target them.

The Greenwatch episode illustrates that ads of dubious provenance aren’t just aimed at Facebook users in the U.S., but in Europe as well. Facebook’s failure to confront the advertiser — despite repeated complaints — raises questions about whether and how the world’s largest social network will deliver on its promise to monitor political advertising aggressively on its platform.

Facebook vowed to step up enforcement of political ads in the wake of news that it allowed Russian advertisers to buy politically divisive ads during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and other advertisers to direct ads to “Jew haters” and similar anti-Semitic groups.

“I expect from a company that makes a lot of money from advertisement that they control who is placing those ads,“ said Emily Büning, the Green party’s executive secretary. “Whoever spreads propaganda with substantial funding has to be identifiable. Whose opinion it is should be transparent.”

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https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-allowed-questionable-ads-in-german-election-despite-warnings

[democratisphere]

1. Fakebook and Zuckerberg are not to be trusted.

He has had ample warning to do something and his blather isn't getting the job done. Fakebook is a propoganda tool that must be fixed or shutdown.

[Ezior]

2. I'm not saying it was Russia...

But it was Russia!

Seriously though, the German green party is probably the party most critical of Russia. They like human rights, they support minorities, they want to reduce the amount of Russian oil and gas we use, they don't want that new pipeline project that is intended to fuck Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries, they are strong NATO supporters and honour the transatlantic friendship (though they don't like Trump).

So they're nothing like the US green party, which Putin apparently loves so much he invited Jill Stein to that nice little RT dinner!

Surely just a coincidence. I'm sick and tired of reading comments about "Gendertoiletten", "Kinderhochzeiten" (accusing the Green party of supporting child marriage) and "no nations no borders" everytime there is a news article about the Green party.

[blueinredohio]

3. Half my family members still use Facebook. Guess they would rather read all the gossip than

try to protect themselves from Russian trolls fake news