Facebook allowed advertisers to run adverts targeting people interested in 'pseudoscience', raising questions about the effectiveness and oversight of the company's misinformation policies. 

An investigation by The Markup revealed that Facebook's ad tools let advertisers target users categorised under "pseudoscience, a group of more than 78 million profiles inferred from user activity. 

This occurred during peak COVID-19 misinformation, with ads like anti-radiation hats capitalising on conspiracy theories that spurred real-world vandalism of cell towers; 

The Markup successfully ran targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram that funneled users towards scam products and misinformation rabbit holes, indirectly worsening public health risks by undermining pandemic response efforts. All the ads were approved in minutes.

Mark Zuckerberg had previously stated that 'one of [his] top priorities is making sure that [Facebook users] see accurate and authoritative information across all of [Facebook's] apps'.

Facebook subsequently removed the pseudoscience interest category.

The episode raised concerns about the platform’s role in the spread of misinformation. The reactive nature of Facebook’s response also suggested a need for more proactive measures, including sgtronger oversight of its ad management system, to prevent such issues. 

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://themarkup.org/coronavirus/2020/04/23/want-to-find-a-misinformed-public-facebooks-already-done-it

• https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/23/facebook-pulls-pseudoscience-from-its-list-of-targeted-ad-categories/

• https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/21232547/facebook-pseudoscience-ad-targeting-coronavirus

• https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-facebook-ads/facebook-gets-rid-of-pseudoscience-ad-targeting-category-idUKL2N2CB1D6

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facebook-no-pseudoscience-ads_n_5ea1fd34c5b62d7f0d6687dd

• https://gizmodo.com/facebook-pulls-down-pseudoscience-ad-category-with-over-1843030967

• https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/23/facebook-removes-pseudoscience-ad-targeting-category/

• https://boingboing.net/2020/04/23/facebook-nixes-pseudoscience.html

• https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2020/04/facebook-stops-advertisers-targeting-pseudoscience-enthusiasts/

• https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-ads-target-pseudoscience-conspiracy-theories-coronavirus-5g-misinformation-report-2020-4