Discussion

• @rmac18 @rmac18 on x

  Remember all those TikTok ads that flooded Facebook and Instagram in 2018 and 2019 and used videos of teen girls dancing? Facebook's ad algorithms optimized those ads to be shown to the audience that interacted with them the most: middle-aged men. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ..…

• @slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x

  Just when you think @facebook couldn't get any lower, they optimize ads with videos of teen girls to target middle-aged men. How can any employee of this company continue to justify it? https://twitter.com/...

• @craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x

  NEW w/ @rmac18: Sources and exclusive documents reveal how Facebook's $80 ad juggernaut has enabled a global economy of dishonesty where scammers, hackers, and disinformation peddlers rip off and manipulate people around the world. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...

• @rmac18 Ryan Mac on x

  Facebook's $80 billion ad machine is what makes the company so valuable. But insiders we spoke to say it's running out of control, and has become a hotbed for scammers, hackers, and fraudsters. Here a deep dive from @CraigSilverman and me: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...

• @akiperitz Aki Peritz on x

  One of the deceptive marketers quoted in this article says of Facebook: “They go out and find the morons for me.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...

• @craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x

  For me, this story started a year ago when I investigated a San Diego marketing agency that spent more than $50 million running scam ads on Facebook. If just *one* advertiser represented $50m in bad FB revenue in 2yrs, how much was FB taking in overall? https://www.buzzfeednews.c…

• @mccarthyryanj Ryan McCarthy on x

  The recurring theme of Facebook scandals doesn't come down to writing code. It comes down to not giving a shit

• @buzzfeednews @buzzfeednews on x

  “The problem is that Facebook's incentive structure is that they have no incentive to be good actors,” said a former Facebook manager who worked with ads products https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...

• @zlingray @zlingray on x

  was it supposed to run not out of control or something? not sure that was a reasonable surmise https://twitter.com/...

• @buzzfeednews @buzzfeednews on x

  Internal messages, as well as interviews with current and former Facebook employees and contractors, show ad workers have at times been told to ignore suspicious behavior unless it “would result in financial losses for Facebook” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...

• @lopezlinette Linette Lopez on x

  “Internal docs...show that Facebook's ad workers have at times been told to ignore suspicious behavior unless it “would result in financial losses for Facebook,” and that the company is pushing to grow revenue in regions that flood its pages with scams.” https://www.buzzfeednews.…

• @jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x

  nahhh surely Facebook would never prioritize revenue over user safety! https://twitter.com/...

• @craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x

  FB has at times prioritized revenue over enforcement of policies designed to protect people who use its platforms. Example: A manager overseeing 45 ads contractors told them to ignore hacked accounts/violations as long as “Facebook gets paid” for ads via a valid payment method.

• @pkafka Peter Kafka on x

  @RMac18 Now Facebook just shows me those images as Reels. Problem solved!

• @rmac18 @rmac18 on x

  FB employees complained about these ads for two years. Higher ups initially defended the TikTok ads saying that they were from a valued business partner. In June 2019, FB quietly instituted an ad policy about ads with suggested “sexualized interaction.” https://www.buzzfeednews.c…