Dark money political ads proliferate on Facebook, ahead of U.S. midterms
27 October 2022
11:06
‘Pink slime’ newsrooms secretly backed by partisan donors are spending big on Facebook and Instagram ads in battleground states, taking advantage of the Meta platforms’ ad-targeting tools and advertising policies
In September 2022, an article appeared on millions of Facebook and Instagram feeds in Michigan, reporting that the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tudor Dixon, “said that a 14-year-old girl raped by her uncle was a ‘perfect example’ of a case in which abortion should not be allowed under the law.” The article, designed to mobilize Democratic voters, was posted on Facebook and Instagram by a seemingly local news outlet called The Main Street Sentinel.
