Political ads on Facebook were listed as 'active' on election day despite being banned

Changes to political adverts in the company’s library take a day to process, the social media giant says

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Multiple adverts related to the US election remained active on Facebook’s Ad Library, despite the company’s ban on political advertising once the polls had closed.

"While ads are an important way to express voice, we plan to temporarily stop running all social issue, electoral, or political ads in the US after the polls close on 3 November, to reduce opportunities for confusion or abuse,” the social media giant said in October. 

“We will notify advertisers when this policy is lifted.”

The policy was an attempt to stop political disinformation and misinformation around US elections, following repeated criticism that the company was not doing enough to block such content from spreading.

However, dozens of political adverts were still listed as active on Wednesday when the polls closed and the tallies for the US election began.

Adverts from organisations including “Evangelicals for Trump” and “We are Great Again PAC,” as well as those from Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party remained on the platform, CNBC noted. 

This is because changes to political adverts in the company’s library take a day to process, according to Facebook.

“Political ads were paused as of midnight on Nov 4. Once an ad has been actioned (e.g. paused, stopped or deleted - whether by FB or by the advertiser) it can take up to 24 hours to reflect that action in the Ad Library. Ad Library data will soon reflect that” said Facebook director of product management Rob Leathern on Twitter.

“Transparency is a priority for us to help prevent interference in elections, so the Ad Library also shows you additional information about these ads, such as who funded the ad, a range of how much they spent and the reach of the ad across multiple demographics”, says a Facebook FAQ about the library, which also informs users about the 24-hour update schedule.

Facebook’s advertising methods have come into question recently. The Biden campaign team said they were “unable to trust” the social media company after apparent technical issues prevented the Democrat from fundraising just days before the election. 

Former employees of the social media giant have also called out its practises claiming that it “profits partly by amplifying lies and selling dangerous targeting tools that allow political operatives to engage in a new level of information warfare.”

The social media site is also taking action to inform users against some misinformation and disinformation.

On its main Facebook app, and Instagram, the company pushed a notification to users telling them that there are not yet final results for the presidential election, after Donald Trump's false claim that he had already won.