Facebook advertises military gear during January 6 US attempted coup
Occurred: January 2021
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Facebook has been running adverts for military gear and weapons accessories next to posts about the January 6 attempted insurrection in Washington DC, USA.
Non-profit Tech Transparency Project's (TTP) discovery raises questions about the effectiveness of the social network's content safety measures. It also prompted a number of Democrat senators to ask Mark Zuckerberg to permanently block ads of products clearly designed to be used in armed combat.
Facebook later said it would ban ads for weapon accessories and protective equipment in the US 'out of an abundance of caution' until at least two days after Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021.
TTP's discovery comes weeks after it had found that Facebook was permitting US militia groups to run recruitment ads on its platform.
Operator: Meta/Facebook
Developer: Meta/Facebook
Country: USA
Sector: Retail
Purpose: Review advertising
Technology: Advertising management system
Issue: Safety; Accuracy/reliability; Ethics
Transparency: Governance; Black box
System
Facebook (2021). Our Preparations Ahead of Inauguration Day
Research, advocacy
Tech Transparency Project (2021). How Facebook Profits from the Insurrection
Tech Transparency Project (2020). Facebook Ran Recruitment Ads for Militia Groups
News, commentary, analysis
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/facebook-profits-military-gear-ads-capitol-riot
https://gizmodo.com/facebook-will-pause-ads-promoting-weapons-accessories-a-1846075789
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/facebook-ads-combat-gear-rightwing-users
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protests-facebook-idUSKBN29L0S5
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-impeachment-biden-inauguration/card/bwbNSbrwuN8T9PlSNDpF
Page info
Type: Incident
Published: January 2021
Last updated: December 2023