Facebook Approves Fake Ads Of 100 Sitting US Senators

Facebook claims it's making major efforts to verify the source of political advertisements and now requires a "Paid for by" disclosure at the top of every ad to notify users who are paying for that ad.

But a recent VICE News investigation proves that just about anyone can pose as anyone, buy an ad on Facebook and claim to be whoever they want to be.

To test it, VICE News applied to buy fake ads on behalf of all 100 sitting U.S. senators, including ads “Paid for by” by Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. Facebook’s approvals were bipartisan: All 100 sailed through the system, indicating that just about anyone can buy an ad identified as “Paid for by” by a major U.S. politician.

What’s more, all of these approvals were granted to be shared from pages for fake political groups such as “Cookies for Political Transparency” and “Ninja Turtles PAC.” VICE News did not buy any Facebook ads as part of the test; rather, we received approval to include "Paid for by" disclosures for potential ads. source

I watched the Senate hearings of Facebook and heard Mark Zuckerberg promising to do more to verify political ads but if they are going to start verifying then they need to do the work, not just add features that still don't verify who's posting the ad. Zuckerberg's Senate hearing highlights in 10 minutes

How is it even legal for someone to post an ad on Facebook claiming they are a US Senator if they are not?
The thought that people are getting away with this and how it could be manipulated is frightening. Why is Facebook not held responsible or putting a stop to this?

These are elected representatives and it should be easy enough to verify that the ad being claimed by them as coming from them really is from them. This isn't rocket science we're talking about.

Why is this even an issue? Is Facebook so greedy to satisfy their shareholders hunger for profits they can't hire people to get this right? Or are they shifting to a more reactionary business model, taking the money first from anyone willing spend and patch any future issues as they arise?

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“If Facebook is going to claim to verify who’s paying for political ads, they need to actually do the work,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, in a statement to VICE News. “Clearly it needs to do far more to combat fraudulent and false content, both in paid advertisements and viral posts.”

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Do we really need a congressional hearing to hold political ads true to their source? Isn't this something a social media company with more users than the populations of most countries should have to do?

Facebook didn't even deny it's approval feature is flawed and shifted their response into bragging about how transparent they are.

Facebook confirmed that the 100 "Paid for by" disclosures in the names of U.S. senators should never have been approved. But the company argues that its "Paid for by" feature has brought a new level of transparency to political advertising, and cautioned it's just one piece of its efforts, along with a searchable Ad Archive. source

Yes, now that they're more transparent we can see how unreliable they are. Why should they worry about verifying political ads are genuine when the worst that will happen from a business perspective is nothing. No legal action, refunds, or responsibility. They collect the money from that paid ad and if anyone calls them out on it they ban the ad and still got paid.

"We know we can’t do this alone, and by housing these ads for up to seven years, people, regulators, third parties and watchdog groups can hold these groups more accountable," said Facebook Director of Product Management Rob Leathern in a statement. source

So the Facebook community and the rest of the world is supposed to hold these fake ad posters accountable according to Rob over at Facebook, not Facebook itself.

The Facebook team makes a lot of bold statements feigning concern about preventing bad actors from manipulating political elections through social media. In fact, the Paid for by feature was created “to help prevent abuse, especially during elections.”

Facebook Director of Product Management Rob Leathern went on to say;

“This will help ensure that you can see who is paying for the ad,” he wrote at the time. “Which is especially important when the Page name doesn’t match the name of the company or person funding the ad.”

“These changes will not prevent abuse entirely. We’re up against smart, creative and well-funded adversaries who change their tactics as we spot abuse,” Leathern wrote. But we believe that they will help prevent future interference in elections on Facebook. And it is why they are so important.” source

Facebook Vice President of Ads Rob Goldman said something similar;

“When it comes to advertising on Facebook, people should be able to tell who the advertiser is and see the ads they’re running, especially for political ads” source

That sounds good, right? Like something you'd expect a Director at Facebook to say to reassure the users that they can trust political ads on Facebook.

But VICE was able to get ads approved for 100 Senators in only a few minutes. They weren't "smart, creative and well-funded and needed no special skills. All Facebook has to say is "the 100 "Paid for by" disclosures in the names of U.S. senators should never have been approved." No Shit? Sounds like something a politician would say. Didn't stop Facebook from getting paid though, did it? Maybe they should change the "Paid for by" feature to "Paid for" and the name Facebook to Fakebook.

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