Facebook Maintains that Misleading Election Advertisements Don't Violate Its Policies
A dubious political faction, previously financed by Elon Musk, is deploying misleading Facebook ads, impersonating supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, while propagating stands she doesn't indeed endorse. These ads are blatantly deceptive, to put it mildly. However, a recent analysis from the Washington Post reveals that Facebook acknowledges the deception but regards it as insignificant.
The ads are primarily designed to provoke and galvanize Republicans, alleging that Harris endorses measures such as a ban on gas-powered vehicles, the obliteration of U.S. borders, and obligatory gun buyback programs. Moreover, the ads untruthfully assert that Harris aims to ensure undocumented immigrants are enlisted as voters.
One of the ads reads, "The Biden-Harris DOJ successfully challenged Virginia’s ‘non-citizen’ voter removal program and won! This ensures that no undocumented immigrant is unjustly removed from voter rolls."
The Facebook ads are designed to emanate from "Progress 2028," mimicking the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025—a potential action plan if Donald Trump regains power. The ads also display "paid for by Progress 2028," when Facebook users encounter them. However, "Progress 2028" is a misnomer, according to Open Secrets. The genuine entity handling the advertisements is a shadowy organization called Building America’s Future, which receives backing from Elon Musk, as revealed by the Wall Street Journal. Facebook, surprisingly, seems unbothered by this predicament.
A spokesperson for Meta, the ownership entity of Facebook, emphasized the company's actions in transparency.
"This kind of political advertising isn't novel and has been widespread across diverse media platforms for decades," Ryan Daniels stated to Gizmodo via email. "By adding a disclosure label and making ads publicly accessible in our Ad Library, Meta infuses a degree of transparency to political advertising that none other platforms boast of where these ads have been aired."
Tools for transparency, such as Facebook’s Ad Library, were launched post-2016 elections, where Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
Predictably, political groups resort to shady methods devoid of transparency, not just on Facebook. In this specific case, Building America’s Future also orchestrates its false flag operation through text messages in Pennsylvania. Yet, the fact that Facebook users are subjected to a fake name like "Progress 2028," devoid of any signifier to the actual sponsoring organization, presents a substantial issue.
Musk has amassed significant influence in political circles in recent years. He began donating substantial sums to right-wing political groups in 2022, and even initiated his own political action committee, America PAC, to aid Trump and other Republicans in their reelection bids. Musk, whose corporations have reaped billions in government contracts and subsidies, is slated to head a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) if Trump recaptures the White House.
However, the frequency at which Musk dispenses funds to alleged shadowy groups like Building America’s Future remains uncertain. Musk's gifts to the group were unveiled publicly only earlier this month, thanks to an article in the Wall Street Journal. The piece reports that Building America’s Future has ties to Republican consultants Phil Cox and Generra Peck.
Gizmodo attempted to contact Elon Musk via his companies, Tesla, and X, but did not receive a response. Updates will be made if a response is received.
The use of technology and social media platforms like Facebook for political advertising, as seen with these deceptive ads, is expected to shape the political landscape in the tech-driven future. Despite the Washington Post's revelation of Facebook's acknowledgment and dismissal of the ad's deception, it's concerning that users might not easily identify the true sponsor behind ads like "Progress 2028."
