Hate-Filled Communal Ads On Facebook By Fake Accounts Become Rampant

Last year, a report published by watchdog organization Ekō stated that Meta approved ads were blatantly promoting violence, racism, and anti-Semitism on the social media platform.

New Delhi: Crucial 2024 elections being held in countries including India, the upcoming elections in the US, and Europe, propagation of hate speech and disinformation on Facebook is a serious matter that the social media giant has to address and reign in.

In March this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Digital platforms must moderate and prevent the spread of hateful content, while protecting users from harassment. He also emphasized that Artificial intelligence must reduce biases and stereotypes, not reproduce and amplify them. 

"Purveyors of hate speech are misusing the most powerful megaphone in history -- social media -- to amplify and spread their despicable ideologies. Online platforms have become breeding grounds for extremist ideologies and harassment," he added.

In a similar context, a report, published by watchdog organization Ekō in August last year, before the EU's Digital Services Act took effect, had highlighted how Meta had given approvals for inflammatory ads that severely violated its own our Community Standards viz nudity, hate speech and violence.

The Ekō report stated that Meta approved ads that were blatantly promoting violence, racism, and anti-Semitism on the social media platform, proving the company's continued vulnerability in identifying risks involved in addressing hate speech.

The report further added that driven by toxic algorithms, the content in Social media platform's online hate speech, fake news, misinformation and disinformation was accessible to users without any checks, thus giving a smooth passage for hardliners to exploit the vulnerabilities and propagate conspiracy theories.

“With a few clicks, we were able to prove just how easy it is for bad actors to spread hate speech and disinformation,” Vicky Wyatt, Ekō’s campaign director, said in a statement. Ekō, however mentioned that the researchers "removed the ads before publication meaning they were never seen by Facebook users."