Report: Facebook Is Profiting Off Ads Featuring Abortion Misinformation

According to a new report from the advocacy group Media Matters, Facebook is directly profiting from content spreading health misinformation despite the platform’s rules against it. The group says that many of these ads focus on “abortion pill reversal,” a dangerous and unethical medical procedure that claims to undo the effects of medication abortions.

Of course, Facebook says that it bans false or misleading health ads. However, Media Matters was easily able to find many examples of this false abortion content generating thousands of dollars in revenue for the social media giant.

“Facebook has earned tens of thousands in revenue from anti-abortion organizations running ads with misinformation about medication abortion procedures and so-called ‘abortion pill reversal,’ despite the platform’s ad policies against health misinformation,” the group wrote in a blog post. “These anti-abortion Facebook ads have been seen millions of times.”

Ever since the Supreme Court effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, Facebook has been in the position of deciding what kind of abortion content can and can’t be shared on the platform. This is an impossibly difficult position, but it’s one that Facebook asked for. Now the company needs to step up and start making tough decisions about how to actually moderate content surrounding this issue.




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