Social Media Giant Continues Apologizing For Faulty Website, Does Nothing to Fix it

Even before ballots were counted, one outcome of the 2018 election was clear: Facebook had again neglected its duty to its new political ads system. Just weeks out from the election, VICE News tested Facebook’s touted “Paid For” disclosure – which mandates all ads relating to politics or an “issue of national importance” include a funding disclosure – only to find that it was able to successfully pose as and receive approval for ads on behalf of all 100 senators, Vice President Mike Pence and even ISIS, without question. Further The Intercept was able to target 168,000 individuals Facebook identified under the “pre-defined ‘detailed targeting’” category of “white genocide conspiracy theory.” Though Facebook has repeatedly gone before the American people pledging to fix its broken system, dependent on artificial intelligence (AI) and human judgment, the evidence simply points to the fact that it hasn’t.

The problems posed by Facebook are not isolated to the United States. Across the globe, countries are dealing with social media-spiked tumult, which Facebook swears it will address. In Brazil, Facebook-owned WhatsApp powered a rumor mill that tainted presidential candidates with libel. In Cameroon, AI failed to flag disinformation and extremist posts flaming unrest in the country, with Facebook falsehoods even permeating the remarks of a high-ranking government official.  Meanwhile, Facebook’s failures have had deadly consequences in Myanmar where bad actors have exploited the platform to stoke hostility and violence against the Rohingya religious minority to a degree where the United Nations believes it may have amounted to genocide.

Globally, the proliferation of terrorist and extremist content on Facebook remains a threat capable of unburdening extremists of geographical boundaries and allowing for mass radicalization. Despite repeated calls for Facebook to address the spread of extremist content on its site, gruesome footage and ISIS propaganda can still regularly be watched, liked and shared. A video by ISIS’s propaganda network, Amaq News, portraying combat and murdered or captured Kurdish soldiers has remained live on Facebook for approximately a week. Another, the ISIS video “Assaults of the Monotheists,” includes footage of the maltreatment of corpses has been available for three days. 

To read more about this issue and see the aforementioned examples, as well as other examples of extremist content, please see the background below. 

EXTREMIST FACEBOOK CONTENT

1. Gory ISIS Propaganda Video On Facebook For One Week

• Located on Facebook: November 7, 2018
• Time on Facebook: Approximately one week
• Views: 98, eight likes/reacts and six shares
• URL: Link
• Profile Language: Indonesian
• Description: A video from ISIS’s propaganda Amaq News network originally released on October 29, 2018 that shows ISIS fighters in Deir Ezzor, Syria.  The video includes combat, and scenes of dead and captured Kurdish soldiers.

2. ISIS Video That Shows Children In A Terrorist Training Camp

• Located on Facebook: November 7, 2018
• Time on Facebook: Two hours
• Views: 15 and one like/react
• URL: Link
• Profile Language: Indonesian
• Description: The ISIS video “Race Towards the Good,” originally released in November 2014 from the group’s Al Hayat Media Center. The video shows Central Asian male children in ISIS-held territory being trained in hand-to-hand combat and the use of firearms. One of the interviewed children states his intention to kill non-Muslims.

3. Recently Released ISIS Video On Facebook With More Than 500 Views

• Located on Facebook: November 7, 2018
• Time on Facebook: Three days
• Views: 521, 52 likes/reacts and 35 shares
• URL: Link
• Profile Language: Malay
• Description: The ISIS video “Assaults of the Monotheists #2,” originally released on November 4, 2018 via the group’s self-proclaimed Barakah province in Syria. The video shows ISIS fighters engaged in combat against Syrian government troops, as well as corpses, and the abuse and maltreatment of dead bodies.

4. ISIS Video Has French Teenager Committing Execution On Facebook For Two Days With        More Than 150 Views

• Located on Facebook: November 7, 2018
• Time on Facebook: Two days
• Views: 188, 32 likes/reacts and 12 shares
• URL: Link
• Profile Language: Indonesian
• Description: The ISIS video “Footsteps of my Father” originally released in May 2016. The video, in French and Arabic, shows a young French teenage member of ISIS. He is shown shooting at targets with the faces of Obama, Putin, Hollande and Assad. The video concludes with the French video subject and another child executing a Syrian soldier and an accused spy with handguns. This version of the video has Indonesian subtitles.

5. Violent ISIS Propaganda Video On Facebook For Two Days With More Than 750 Views

• Located on Facebook: November 7, 2018
• Time on Facebook: Two days
• Views: 764, 63 likes/reacts and 53 shares
• URL: Link
• Profile Language: Thai and Indonesian
• Description: The ISIS video “A Message Signed with Blood to the Nations of the Cross,” originally released in February 2015. The video shows the beheading of more than 12 men identified as Egyptian Christians by ISIS fighters in Libya. The main executioner speaks in English and declares that ISIS will fight until the end of days. This version of the video has Indonesian subtitles and was slightly modified with a longer introduction.

BACKGROUND

VICE News Duped Facebook’s “Paid For” Ad Disclosure And Was Successfully Able To Gain Approval For Ads On Behalf Of Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez And ISIS. “In May, Facebook added a mandatory ‘Paid For’ disclosure for every ad that relates to politics or what Facebook calls an ‘issue of national importance.’ The idea is to lift the veil on the kind of inflammatory ads placed by anonymous advertisers that plagued Facebook during the 2016 race. But when VICE News placed ads on behalf of prominent political figures such as Vice President Mike Pence, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, Facebook quickly approved them. We also tried submitting an ad on behalf of ‘Islamic State,’ which was also approved by Facebook. We were able to get Facebook’s approval for political ads that included these names within the Paid For disclosure.” (William Turton, “Facebook’s Political Ad Tool Let Us Buy Ads ‘Paid For’ By Mike Pence And ISIS,” VICE News, 10/25/18)

VICE News Also Received Facebook Approval For Ads On Behalf Of All 100 Sitting U.S. Senators. “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 … 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.” (William Turton, “We Posed As 100 Senators To Run Ads On Facebook. Facebook Approved All Of Them.,” VICE News, 10/30/18)

The Intercept Discovered It Was Able To Target 168,000 Individuals On Facebook With The “Pre-Defined ‘Detailed Targeting’ Criterion” Of ‘White Genocide Conspiracy Theory.’” “Earlier this week, The Intercept was able to select ‘white genocide conspiracy theory’ as a pre-defined ‘detailed targeting’ criterion on the social network to promote two articles to an interest group that Facebook pegged at 168,000 users large and defined as ‘people who have expressed an interest or like pages related to White genocide conspiracy theory.’ The paid promotion was approved by Facebook’s advertising wing. After we contacted the company for comment, Facebook promptly deleted the targeting category, apologized, and said it should have never existed in the first place.” (Sam Biddle, “Facebook Allowed Advertisers To Target Users Interested In ‘White Genocide’ – Even In Wake Of Pittsburgh Massacre,” The Intercept, 11/2/18)

WhatsApp Was Exploited Ahead Of The Brazilian Presidential Election To Disseminate Misinformation About Candidates. “WhatsApp has been in the news recently almost as much as its corporate parent, Facebook. During the recent Brazilian presidential campaign, a group of wealthy supporters of eventual winner Jair Bolsonaro purportedly paid for an army of WhatsApp shills to spread disinformation about his opponent. One outlandish piece claimed Bolsonaro’s opponent Fernando Haddad planned to distribute phallic-shaped baby bottles to children to counteract homophobia. Haddad supporters responded with their own media assault. A Brazilian fact-checking industry sprung up to counteract the rumors, and the fact checkers themselves were soon the subject of a misinformation campaign.” (Antonio García Martínez, “Why WhatsApp Became A Hotbed For Rumors And Lies In Brazil,” Wired, 11/4/18)  

In Cameroon, Facebook “Has Been Used Both To Incite Violence And To Make Threatening Posts” As The Nation Deals With A “Separatist Conflict.” “Facebook is under fire for carrying misleading information, including in the United States and Britain, and over posts against the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar which have had deadly consequences … In Cameroon, Facebook has been used both to incite violence and to make threatening posts. Simon Munzu, a former United Nations representative, said he was the target of death threats on Facebook after it was announced in July that he would help organize negotiations in the separatist conflict. Afraid, Munzu went to stay with friends.” (Edward McAllister, “Facebook’s Cameroon Problem: Stop Online Hate Stoking Conflict,” Reuters, 11/5/18)

In A Report Published By Facebook, The Social Media Company Admits It “Created An ‘Enabling Environment’ For The Proliferation Of Human Rights Abuse” In Myanmar. “Facebook has said it agrees with a report that found it had failed to prevent its platform being used to ‘incite offline violence’ in Myanmar. The independent report, commissioned by Facebook, said the platform had created an ‘enabling environment’ for the proliferation of human rights abuse.  It comes after widespread violence against the Rohingya minority which the UN has said may amount to genocide.” (“Facebook Admits It Was Used To ‘Incite Offline Violence’ In Myanmar,” BBC, 11/6/18)