Three images posted on Facebook by a group called Progress 28 claim to be ads for Kamala Harris, but misrepresent her current status. position.
Screenshot by Progress 2028 via Meta’s Ad Library/NPR
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Screenshot by Progress 2028 via Meta’s Ad Library/NPR
Have you seen Kamala Harris’ ads on Facebook? Watch out. They may have deceived you.
A series of ads that appear to be from the Harris campaign spread falsehoods about Harris’ current policy positions. Among them is that Harris wants to introduce a forced gun buyback program and give undocumented immigrants Medicare benefits and driver’s licenses. One ad claims Harris wants to ban fracking. None of this is true.
The Facebook ads were posted by an account called “Progress 2028” and have collectively been viewed millions of times in battleground states. The name suggests the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Heritage Foundation Project 2025.
However, there are no efforts in collaboration with Harris like Progress 2028. The ad is being funded by Building America’s Future, an underground finance group backed by billionaire Elon Musk and others. According to Visit the campaign tracking site Open Secrets. it is part of over $100 million Campaign finance records show Musk has spent to support former President Donald Trump’s re-election bid.
The content of advertising purchases is published Located in the Ads Library database hosted by Meta, Facebook’s parent company. This means the group has posted 13 of these ads so far. As of Wednesday afternoon, Meta tallied that the ad had received 8.7 million impressions, although some viewers may have seen the same ad multiple times.
Experts told NPR there was nothing illegal about the ad because the First Amendment protects political speech even if it contains lies. But this message could mislead voters days before the election.
“This tactic is not new,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, said of the strategy of using subterfuge to smear political opponents. “Social media has greatly expanded the ability of deep-pocketed and skilled ad buyers to risk a backlash from those likely to notice deception.” We were able to precisely target vulnerable undecided voters.
Robert Wiseman, co-director of the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen, said that in this case, the disclosure at the bottom of the ad that the ad was paid for by Progress 2028 added to the deception.
Mr. Wiseman, who asked Meta to remove the ad, said: “While they are truthfully disclosing who is paying for the ad, the group appears to be a support group for Ms. Harris, when in fact it is not.” It sounds like,” he said.
Meta spokesman Ryan Daniels did not directly comment on the Progress 2028 ad. first highlighted By technology news site 404 Media. But the ad doesn’t seem to be in violation meta advertising rulesmost require disclosure of the company paying for the ad. The rules also prohibit ads that prematurely declare victory or question the legitimacy of the electoral process.
Daniels said deceptive political ads have been rolled out “across the media landscape for decades,” and that Meta’s ad library, which lets you view an ad’s reach, “brings a level of transparency to political advertising.” , which far exceeds other platforms.” These ads have been published. ”
As in 2020, meta I won’t allow it The new political ads are set to run in the week leading up to the Nov. 5 election, but political ads will continue to appear on the company’s platform if purchased before the week of the election.
Starting November 5, political ads will be allowed to resume on Facebook and Instagram, a change from 2020, when such ads were banned after the election. On the other hand, Google block election ads This is to suppress any falsehoods that may spread if vote counting is still underway after November 5th.
Wiseman says this isn’t enough. “While Mehta is downplaying his responsibility for allowing this deception to take place, the responsibility lies 100 percent with Mehta,” Wiseman said. “Yes, there is a First Amendment right to lie, but that does not constrain Meta’s ability to manage advertising on its platform.”
According to OpenSecret’s investigation, Progress 2028 also sent text messages containing links to Progress 2028 web pages to potential voters making false claims about Harris’ policy positions, when in fact they were It gives the impression that Progress 2028 is a group that supports Harris as a presidential candidate, despite the fact that it is to the contrary.
of site Before launching into a series of policy proposals, Harris said, “If Kamala Harris becomes president, she will enact fundamental reforms that will finally make equity across America a reality. We will have unprecedented opportunities.” In fact, I support the 2024 race.
Consulting groups associated with Building America’s Future and Progress 2028 did not respond to requests for comment.
Public Citizen’s Wiseman said that while misrepresenting a candidate’s position is a common tactic in political messaging, outright lies framed as if they came from the candidate are He said it was beyond a brazen distortion.
“Whether you have influence or not is another question, but the chances of being fooled are very high,” he says. “They appear to be true, but the only way you’ll know it’s not true is if you’re an informed voter who knows that the claims aren’t true. .”
