Meta Drug Ads, the Election Denial Grift, and Sports Betting Bankruptcies
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** CfA's August 2, 2024 Newsletter
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With your support, Campaign for Accountability is working to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.
** This Week's Updates:
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TTP Finds Paid Advertisements for Cocaine, Opioids on Meta Platforms
This week, CfA’s Tech Transparency Project published a new report revealing ([link removed]) that Meta has run hundreds of advertisements for illegal drugs on its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook. Many of the ads contained photographs of powders, loose pills, and crystalized substances, and directed customers to encrypted messaging platforms where they could communicate with dealers. Ultimately, TTP researchers found over 450 advertisements for drugs placed on Meta platforms within a three-and-a-half-month period; this number is a likely an undercount, given the limitations of Meta’s ad analysis tools.
Meta claims ([link removed]) to screen advertisements using “automated technology,” but will occasionally supplement this process with a manual review. In practice, a significant percentage of advertisements approved on Meta platforms are never reviewed by a human being– and it shows.
TTP’s research was covered ([link removed]) by The Wall Street Journal, and released the morning of Meta’s quarterly earnings call. In March, The Journal also reported ([link removed]) that Meta was being investigated by federal law enforcement officials for its role in facilitating drug sales. While an investigation does not always result in penalties, TTP’s report demonstrates that Meta is failing to stop drug dealers and profiting from the advertisements they place.
True the Vote Escalates Voter Roll Purges
In late July, the election denial group True the Vote (TTV) announced ([link removed]) that users of its “IV3 ([link removed]) ” app had challenged over half a million voter registrations across the country – a practice which can overload ([link removed]) election officials and pave the way for claims of fraud. While TTV has been forced ([link removed]) to admit that it lacks evidence to prove that the 2020 election was stolen, its “research ([link removed]) ” was recently cited in a report shared by former President Donald Trump, whose campaign has
embraced conspiracies about non-citizen voting ([link removed]) in the upcoming election.
On Tuesday, TTV’s X account bragged ([link removed]) that it had challenged a total of 811,846 records, claiming that media coverage of its activities was driving engagement. For some donors, though, TTV’s disregard for evidence has proved frustrating: in 2022, the organization escaped ([link removed]) a lawsuit brought by pharmacy CEO Fredric Eshelman, who claimed that his gift of $2.5 million had been misused by TTV’s leadership. In 2023, CfA urged the IRS ([link removed]) to investigate TTV for improperly funneling money to senior employees of the organization, which operates as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3). CfA also filed a complaint ([link removed])
regarding illegal political activity undertaken by TTV, which declared itself a “partner” of the Georgia Republican Party in 2020.
Research Shows Surge of Bankruptcies Associated with Sports Betting
Last week, a group of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California published a working paper ([link removed]) suggesting that consumer financial health has declined in states with legalized sports betting, with young men in low income counties being particularly impacted. These findings echo reports ([link removed]) from problem gambling hotlines, whose operators have observed a spike in call volume since the Supreme Court overturned a federal law prohibiting sports betting in 2018. Callers have also gotten younger ([link removed]) , the hotlines say, and appear to suffer from more severe forms of addiction. Lobbyists for sports betting companies claim
([link removed]) that mobile sports betting provides “safeguards” that in-person casinos do not, while the companies themselves assert ([link removed]) that only a small percentage of gamblers will develop a problem. In reality, sports betting profits appear to be driven by that small percentage of gamblers; in Connecticut, a recent study ([link removed]) found that problem gamblers placed half of all sports bets in the state.
What We're Reading
States have increased anti-abortion center funding by nearly $500M since Roe was overturned ([link removed])
FTC chair presses for investigation into high grocery prices ([link removed])
Crypto Cash Affecting Both Sides of the Democratic Divide ([link removed])
** Follow Our Work:
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We thank you for your continued support. Without people like you, our work would not be possible.
Here is how you can stay involved and help us accomplish our mission:
1. Follow CfA on Threads ([link removed]) and BlueSky ([link removed])
2. Follow the Tech Transparency Project on Threads ([link removed]) and Bluesky ([link removed])
3. Tell your friends and colleagues ([link removed]) about CfA.
4. Send us a tip ([link removed]) .
5. Make a tax-deductible donation ([link removed]) .
Be on the lookout for more updates about our work in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for signing up to be a part of CfA!
Sincerely,
Michelle Kuppersmith
Executive Director, Campaign for Accountability
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