The Wire

Concerns have been raised over Facebook’s advertising-tracking software, after advertisements for fringe movements were being shown to some social media users.

In one case, a group called “Hands Off Our Democracy” published a sponsored ad criticizing the Greens and activist group GetUp!, and despite being a political ad, did not feature an authorisation to identify who was behind the ad. Facebook refused to pass on information on identifying who published it to the Australian Electoral Commission.

In other cases, ads targeted people who supported ideologies such as the far-right and anti-vaccination movements, despite Facebook claiming last year to have removed certain key words from its ad-tracking software to prevent misuse.