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NewsGuard claims hundreds of ads appeared next to posts spreading false information, which follows a similar claim from Media Matters earlier this month.
A new report claims ads on X from dozens of brands are appearing next to misinformation “super-spreaders” that shared false information about the conflict taking place between Israel and Hamas in Palestine.
NewsGuard – an organisation that looks at misinformation online – claims to have identified ads from 86 major advertisers that appeared next to viral posts spreading “misleading claims” about the conflict.
The organisation looked at 30 posts spreading this type of information and claims they had a combined total of 92m views on X – an average of 3m views for each post.
The report claims ads from top brands, educational institutions, governments and non-profit organisations were shown directly below these posts. In total, NewsGuard claims it identified 200 ads appearing below 24 of the 30 misleading posts.
“Under the terms of a new advertising revenue sharing programme that X introduced for its ‘creators’, a portion of the advertising income generated by these organisations would apparently be shared with these super-spreaders of misinformation,” NewsGuard said in its report.
The report follows a similar claim from non-profit Media Matters earlier this month, which claimed various adverts on X appeared next to offensive posts that showed support for Hitler and the Nazi party. The organisation shared images of these instances.
In response, IBM – which had its ads included in these claims – suspended its advertising on X while it “investigates this entirely unacceptable situation”. Apple and Disney also paused their X advertising in response to the claims, The Guardian reports.
X told Reuters that its system does not intentionally place brand ads next to this type of content and that the accounts shown in the Media Matters report would no longer be able to make money from their posts.
X is currently suing Media Matters for its report and claims that the organisation “manipulated” the site’s algorithms to have ads appear next to the offensive content, according to court documents shared by The Verge. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton also opened an investigation into Media Matters for “potential fraudulent activity.”
Last month, there were reports that disinformation around Israel’s war in Palestine was being spread on X. The spread of disinformation on X was called out by the EU in September, after a report claimed the site had the highest proportion of disinformation when ranked against other major social media platforms.
Last month, the European Commission launched an investigation into X over the alleged spreading of disinformation on the platform.
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