Reporters Posed as 100 Senators To Run Ads on Facebook. Facebook Approved All of Them.

William Turton, reporting for Vice News: One of Facebook's major efforts to add transparency to political advertisements is a required 'Paid for by' disclosure at the top of each ad supposedly telling users who is paying for political ads that show up in their news feeds. But on the eve of the 2018 midterm elections, a VICE News investigation found the 'Paid for by' feature is easily manipulated and appears to allow anyone to lie about who is paying for a political ad, or to pose as someone paying for the ad. 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.

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