(Bloomberg) — Social media platforms in Canada are hosting hundreds of ads from scam artists pretending to be news publishers, while suppressing authentic news content.
Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. has blocked links to news outlets for users in Canada since August 2023 in response to a law designed so social platforms compensate news publishers for hosting their content. People in Canada who try to post stories on Facebook by the Toronto Star, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and other professional news outlets receive a message: “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be shared.”
X, formerly known as Twitter, still allows the sharing of news stories, though its owner Elon Musk suggested last year the platform throttles posts with external links, which would mean they reach fewer people.
But for months, users of all three social sites have been persistently shown ads for get-rich-quick schemes masquerading as stories from legitimate news sources such as the CBC. The fake posts have also fueled concerns about foreign interference as the country prepares to hold an election.
To hook scrolling users, the ads typically feature edited imagery and false headlines about prominent Canadian public figures. Recent examples include “The tragic end of Chrystia Freeland!” and “The Bank of Canada has sued Pierre Poilievre for his statements during the live broadcast.” Some use manipulated video overlaid with audio imitating famous figures’ voices.
One video depicts Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem describing an investment product developed with Elon Musk. It’s fake, but it’s still on Facebook nearly a year after the Canadian Press first reported on it.
Other people whose likenesses have been appropriated include Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer David McKay, Thomson Reuters Corp. Chairman David Thomson, weather presenter Kelsey McEwen and television news anchor Ian Hanomansing, who reported on his own appearance in a scam.
A frequent victim is Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party. Searching his name on Meta’s ad library in late January revealed dozens of active advertisements based on fake stories from anonymous accounts with names including ‘Nyteriosa’ and ‘Female Interest,’ both of which were based in Ukraine. One account led to an inactive email address and the other didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The ads frequently link to pages resembling established news websites, with text that starts like a news article but pivots to promises of fast investment returns. Users are encouraged to deposit money, and some pages include a countdown clock or indicate shrinking availability before the opportunity supposedly expires. The ads are sometimes taken down but reappear via other pages.
“It is against our policies to run ads that try to scam or impersonate people or brands,” said Meta spokesperson Julia Perreira via email, calling the phenomenon an industrywide challenge. “Our work in this area is never done, and we continue to invest in new technologies and methods to protect people on our platforms from scams.”
‘This Is not us’
In September 2024, the NDP’s national director spoke about the fake Singh ads during an inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian democracy. The country is due to hold a general election by October, and most Canadians are unaware of Meta’s block on news content, according to an August study from the Media Ecosystem Observatory research group.
An NDP spokesperson said the party “is aware of malicious spam falsely using images of prominent figures, including Jagmeet Singh” and is “taking steps to address the fake posts.”
On a page spoofing the CBC, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is falsely quoted endorsing an app called Depotalux. Depotalux’s site shares design and legal language with a site called Biffy AI, according to a scam alert released in June by consumer protection group ADC France.
Bloomberg also reviewed fake ads posted by a series of X accounts in January that used names and logos from real businesses, such as an art gallery in the town of St. Ives, UK. Most of the X profiles were started in the past two months and linked to the companies’ websites, and all sported a blue “verified” check mark.
The verification badge used to denote authenticity on X, but now it just shows a user has paid a membership fee. Musk has been warned that the change undermines user trust on the platform, including by the European Union.
Sermoneta Gloves, an Italian business, was impersonated on a fake X account that promoted a bogus news story. “This is NOT us,” Sermoneta director Linda Rinaldi said after Bloomberg inquired about the account, which bore a check mark.
X did not respond to a request for comment. X’s website says the blue check is displayed “after a review to ensure subscribed accounts meet all eligibility criteria.”
“Social media is a single pipe where fake news — the sewage — is commingled with real news — the clean drinking water,” Paul Deegan, president of industry association News Media Canada, said by email. “We believe Meta platforms would be more attractive to advertisers and users with real news to counter the sewage.”
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced he’s replacing fact-checkers with crowd-sourced community notes, emulating X, though the move is confined to the US “for now.” In October, Meta also said it’s expanding tests of facial recognition to combat what it calls “celeb-bait” scam ads.
The CBC has filed examples with the ad fraud group at Canada’s Competition Bureau, Chuck Thompson, the broadcaster’s head of public affairs, said by email.
“We are all too aware of an increase of false ads and news stories claiming to be from, or endorsed by, CBC or CBC employees appearing on social media platforms and websites,” he said.
“We are working to curb this alarming trend and to remove any false or inappropriate posts,” he added, though “it’s proved challenging to track down many of these operators as they’re not easily found.”
A spokesperson for the Competition Bureau said it can’t typically comment on complaints, or whether it’s investigating Meta or X’s advertising practices. “Anyone that uses or permits using deceptive marketing practices, including misleading AI generated content, could be liable under the Competition Act,” the spokesperson said.
The government, which introduced the legislation leading Meta to block Canadian news, is holding firm despite warnings of unintended consequences from researchers as well as news publishers.
“Thanks to this law, Google will contribute C$100 million ($69 million) each year to support Canadian journalism. This demonstrates that the Online News Act is working,” said David Larose, a spokesperson for the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Larose said the government is “committed to addressing online disinformation” and pointed to an initiative that funds research into the subject.
— With assistance from Alberto Nardelli.