Meta, X approved ads containing violent anti-Muslims, anti-Semitic hate speech before German elections, study finds

Meta and X social media giants approved ads targeting consumers in Germany with a violent speech for anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred on the eve of the country’s federal elections, according to new studies of EcoNon -profit campaign group corporate responsibility.

The group researchers tested whether the advertising review systems of the two platforms would approve or reject ads for ads containing hateful and violent messages aimed at minorities before elections in which immigration has taken the central scene in the basic political discourse-enclosure containing antimusl. rumors; calls on immigrants to be closed in concentration camps or to be understood; and generated by AI images of mosques and synagogues that are burned.

Most of the test ads were approved within hours of a review in mid -February. The federal elections in Germany will be held on Sunday, February 23.

Planned ads for hate speech

Eco said that X approved all 10 of the hate speech ads that his researchers filed only days before the federal elections were held while META approved half (five ads) to launch on Facebook (and potentially Instagram) The other five.

The reason meta provided for for the five rejections shows that the platform believes that there may be risks of political or social sensitivity that can affect the vote.

The five ads that Meta approved included a speech of violent hatred that likened Muslim refugees to a “virus”, “Wermina” or “rodents”, branding Muslim immigrants as “rape” and urging them to be sterilized, burned. Meta also approved an ad calling for the synagogues to be burned to “stop the globalist agenda for Jewish rats.”

Like a side, Eco says A policy that requires disclosure of the use of AI images For ads on social issues, elections or policy.

In the meantime, X approved all five of these hateful ads – and five more, which contained a similar violent hate speech aimed at Muslims and Jews.

These additional approved ads included messages attacking “rodents” immigrants that the advertising copy claims to “flood” the country “to steal our democracy,” and an anti -Semitic fraud that suggests that Jews are lying for climate change to destroy the European industry and accumulate economic power.

The last ad was combined with AI-generated images depicting a group of shady men sitting around a table surrounded by piles of gold bars, a David star on the wall above them-with the visualizations also bent in anti-Semitic tropes.

Another approved AD X contains a direct attack on SPD, the left -wing party, which is currently leading the German coalition government, with a false claim that the party wants to take 60 million Muslim refugees from the Middle East before breaking a violent answer. X also properly scheduled an advertisement, which suggests that the “leftists” want “open borders” and call for the extermination of Muslims “rapes”.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, used the social media platform, where there are nearly 220 million followers to intervene in the German elections personally. In tweet in DecemberHe called on the German voters to support AFD’s final right -wing party to “save Germany”. He also hosts a mercury with AFD leader Alice Weidel, at X.

EKO researchers disabled all test ads before approved by all to be approved, were planned to run to ensure that no platform user is exposed to the speech of violent hatred.

It says that the tests emphasize bright disadvantages with the approach of AD platforms to the moderation of the content. In fact, in the case of X, it is unclear whether the platform makes some moderation of ads, given all 10 speech ads of fierce hatred were quickly approved for display.

The findings also suggest that advertising platforms can earn revenue as a result of distributing the speech of violent hatred.

EU Digital Services Act in the framework

EKO tests suggest that no platform properly applies to hate speech, which they both claim to be applied to advertising content in their own policies. Moreover, in the case of Meta, Eco came to the same conclusion after holding Test In 2023, before the new rules for managing online management of the EU, they suggest that the regime has no effect on how it works.

“Our discoveries suggest that the AI ​​moderation systems operated by AI of META remain fundamentally violated, despite the Digital Services Act (DSA), which are now in full effect,” a spokesman for TechCrunch told.

“Instead of strengthening the process of reviewing advertising or hate speech policies, it seems that Meta withdraws through the entire board,” they added, pointing to Company’s last message about canceling the moderation and policies to verify facts As a sign of the “active regression” they proposed, it puts it on a direct course of collision with DSA rules for system risks.

EKO presented its latest findings to the European Commission, which controls the implementation of key aspects of the DSA of the couple giants in social media. He also said he shared the results with both companies, but none of them answered.

EU has open DSA investigations for Meta and Xwhich include fears about election security and illegal content, but the Commission has not yet ended with these proceedings. However, Already in April It says he suspects Meta of inadequate moderation of political ads.

A preliminary solution for part of her DSA investigation for X, which was announced JulyIt includes the suspicion that the platform fails to cope with the regulation’s advertising rules. The full investigation that started in December 2023It also refers to illegal content risks and the EU has not yet reached any findings for the greater part of the probe much more than a year later.

Confirmed DSA violations can attract penalties by up to 6% of the global annual turnover, while systemic non -compliance can even lead to regional access to temporarily blocked platform platforms.

But for now, the EU is still taking the time to decide it is Meta and X probes – in anticipation of final decisions – all DSA sanctions remain in the air.

In the meantime, it is now only a matter of hours before German voters go to the ballot boxes-the growing set of civil society research suggests that the EU online management regulation has failed to protect the democratic process of the EU’s main economy from a number S

Earlier this week, a global witness released The results of the X and Tiktok algorithmic emissions in Germany, which suggest that platforms are prejudiced in favor of promoting AFD content to the content of other political parties. Civil society researchers also have Accused X for blocking access to data In order to prevent them from learning the risks of security in the events on the eve of the German poll-affordable DSA must allow.

“The European Commission has taken important steps by opening the DSA investigations for both Met and X, we must now see the Commission taking strong action to deal with problems raised as part of these investigations,” said Eco spokesman.

“Our discoveries, along with increasing evidence from other civil society groups, show that Big Tech will not clean its platforms voluntarily. Meta and X continue to allow the illegal speech of hatred, incite violence and election misinformation to distribute on a scale, despite their legal duties on DSA, “the spokesman added. (We refused the speaker’s name to prevent bullying.)

“Regulators must take strong action-as in the imposition of the DSA, but also for example the implementation of mitigation measures before the election. This may include the exclusion of profiling -based recommendation systems immediately before the election and the implementation of other suitable “breakthrough” measures to prevent algorithmic enhancement of borderline content, such as hate content in the leakage elections. “

The campaign group also warns that the EU is now facing pressure from the Trump administration to soften its approach to regulating major technologies. “In the current political climate, there is a real danger that the Commission does not completely implement these new laws as a discount on the United States,” they suggest.