According to a new report from the human rights organization Global Witness and the Cybersecurity for Democracy Team (C4D) at New York University, Facebook and TikTok failed to take action against advertisements that contained “blatant” lies and misinformation about when and how to cast a ballot in the US midterm elections as well as about the fairness of the electoral process.
In one experiment, the researchers posted 20 advertisements on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube that made false claims. Battleground states like Arizona and Georgia were the focus of the advertisements. The research claims that while YouTube could recognize, reject, and suspend the channel used to post every test submission, the performance of the other two platforms was substantially inadequate.
The researchers discovered that 90% of the advertisements on TikTok contained inaccurate or misleading information. According to the report, Facebook accepted a “substantial number” of videos but significantly fewer than TikTok.
The content in the ads, which were presente in both English and Spanish, included assertions that the voting period would be prolonge and that social media accounts might serve as a tool for voter verification. The advertisements also made statements intende to dissuade people from casting ballots, such as that the election’s outcome was predetermined or that it could be hacked.
If the ads were authorize the researchers retracte them afterwar. Preventing viewers from seeing the ads that included false information.
With only a few weeks until the midterm elections, the experiment—while limited in scope—could rekindle concerns about the measures taken by some of the biggest social platforms. This will combat false information regarding not only candidates and issues but also what appears to be blatant falsehoods about the voting process itself.
In advance of the midterm elections, TikTok introduced additional measures last month to ensure the accuracy of political content. The platform prohibited all political fundraising and started requiring “mandatory verification” for political accounts with American addresses.
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