Pro‑Russian ads on Facebook target Italy and Poland before EU vote

The aim of pro-Russian ads published on Facebook before the European elections was to target Italy and Poland, reports Politico. In April, the portal revealed that a disinformation propaganda campaign was developing on the Meta platform.

According to researchers from the nonprofit groups AI Forensics and CheckFirst, in May, about 275 sponsored posts containing anti-Ukrainian and anti-EU content reached over 3 million Facebook users in France, Germany, Italy, and Poland, the portal reported. A month earlier, the European Commission launched an investigation into the matter.

"The influx of illegal ads violating platform rules is an alarm signal for both Meta and regulatory authorities to enforce existing regulations more thoroughly," said Amaury Lesplingart, co-founder of the nonprofit organization CheckFirst.

During the investigation, experts identified hundreds of fake accounts that managed to purchase ads on the Meta platform to spread their messages in several major European countries. "There is no place for Ukraine in the EU," declared five similar ads.

Ads targeting Polish platform users featured the message: "We are all used to constant reports of thefts in Ukraine, but sometimes the cynicism of Ukrainian thieves surprises us."

"They are taking away our future" - similar ads in Italian declared, published from nine different fake accounts, showing the same photo (dated from 2014) depicting a line of people looking for work in Madrid in 2014. "Our leaders must invest in Italy. But (...) they are spending billions of our money on someone else's war in Ukraine, sacrificing our future for it," read the caption.

Over 65% of ads related to political and social issues were not labelled as such on Facebook in over 16 EU countries, and the researchers claim Meta removed less than 5% of these ads.

Political ad buyers on Meta must show an official ID. They cannot promote their messages outside the country they reside in, a process more restrictive than for commercial advertisers of paid posts.

Meta questioned the researchers' findings regarding their definition of political ads and their decision not to consider ads that were blocked before publication.

"The Commission is analysing new findings provided by AI Forensics," said Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier. He declined to comment on ongoing proceedings against Meta, including any potential interim measures.