FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 18, 2024

Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a non-profit watchdog group that runs the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), published a report showing that Meta is allowing users around the world to buy and sell Facebook accounts that are authorized to run political ads in the U.S—creating opportunities for foreign interference in the November election. This black market activity is in direct violation of Meta’s policies on buying and selling of accounts as well as misrepresentation and inauthentic behavior, and undermines the company’s past promises to protect elections in the U.S. and around the world.

Read TTP’s report here.

CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “We’ve seen that foreign interference is a real threat for the U.S. this election season, but Facebook still hasn’t gotten a handle on its own potential to exacerbate it. By failing to effectively police its platform, Facebook is allowing the tools for election interference to be bought and sold right under its nose.”

By searching through English-language Facebook groups that regularly traffic in fake and stolen accounts, TTP found multiple examples of sellers offering Facebook accounts that are approved to run ads in the category of “social issues, elections, or politics” in the U.S. In one post, a seller located in Karachi, Pakistan included a screenshot showing a U.S. Facebook account that had received political ad approval and offered to provide buyers with “Verified IDs.” This user posted the same offer across multiple Facebook groups with thousands of members.

Another Pakistan-based user posted a similar offer in a group called “Cloning Ids,” which is filled with posts seeking to buy and sell Facebook accounts and cloned, or stolen, identity documents. That seller had a “top contributor” badge, which Facebook awards to people for “being one of the most active participants” in a group. Meta claims its automated systems can scan text in images for violating content, so it is not clear why Facebook failed to detect these policy-violating posts.

TTP documented a similar trend during India’s general election earlier this year, as Facebook users sold accounts authorized to run political ads in that country. Now, Facebook is allowing this same kind of trade in U.S. accounts, at a time when federal authorities are warning about intensifying efforts by countries like Russia and Iran to interfere in the U.S. election.

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.