The report said it found that 50 ads for climate change-denying articles were published after Google's promised policy deadline.
File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Tech giant Google has not yet fully implemented its pledge to stop running advertisements for articles that deny climate change, according to a watchdog analysis.
Google had said on Oct. 7, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Scotland, that it would cease running ads that promote content that deny climate and set a Nov. 8 deadline for the policy.
Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Tech giant Google has not yet fully implemented its pledge to stop running advertisements for articles that deny climate change, according to a watchdog analysis.
Google had said on Oct. 7, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Scotland, that it would cease running ads that promote content that deny climate and set a Nov. 8 deadline for the policy.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate said in a report Thursday that it found 50 ads for climate change-denying articles were published after the deadline. The non-governmental organization said those ads reached nearly 50,000 interactions on Facebook.
"Climate change denial is a cynical strategy that seeks to delay the action needed to prevent ecological disaster," CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said in a statement.
"In making their initial announcement, Google appears to recognize that they have played a part in making climate change denial a profitable business, and yet they have not followed through with real action."
Last month, the group published a "Toxic Ten" report that showed that just 10 publishers were responsible for almost 70% of Facebook interactions with climate denial content. The analysis said eight of the 10 earned $3.6 million from Google Ads in the six months leading up to Google's pledge.
Thursday's report also cited multiple ads for articles that attacked climate science as "alarmism."
Last month, the group published a "Toxic Ten" report that showed that just 10 publishers were responsible for almost 70% of Facebook interactions with climate denial content. The analysis said eight of the 10 earned $3.6 million from Google Ads in the six months leading up to Google's pledge.
Thursday's report also cited multiple ads for articles that attacked climate science as "alarmism."
Google said in response to the report that it's "taken appropriate enforcement actions."
File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Google communications manager Michael Aciman told The Verge after the report was posted that the company has "taken appropriate enforcement actions."
"When we find content that crosses the line from policy debate to promoting climate change denial, we stop serving ads on that page or site," Aciman told The New York Times.
Facebook bans seven companies accused of surveillance for hire
A months-long investigation identified the seven companies over four countries.
"When we find content that crosses the line from policy debate to promoting climate change denial, we stop serving ads on that page or site," Aciman told The New York Times.
Facebook bans seven companies accused of surveillance for hire
A months-long investigation identified the seven companies over four countries.
File photo by Kon Karampelas/Unsplash
Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Facebook's parent company Meta on Thursday banned seven surveillance-for-hire companies from the social media platform over concerns about spying that could affect close to 50,000 users.
The Facebook users across 100 countries may have been targeted by the surveillance companies working for both government agencies and private clients.
"We alerted around 50,000 people who we believe were targeted by these malicious activities worldwide, using the system we launched in 2015. We recently updated it to provide people with more granular details about the nature of targeting we detect, in line with the surveillance chain phases framework we shared above" states the report.
"Given the severity of their violations, we have banned them from our services. To help disrupt these activities, we blocked related internet infrastructure, putting them on notice that their targeting of people has no place on our platform."
The move comes after months of investigation by the parent company, which used terms such as "cyber-mercenaries" and "surveillance-for-hire" to describe the bad actors.
The Meta report says the banned companies provide "intrusive software tools and surveillance services indiscriminately to any customer -- regardless of who they target or the human rights abuses they might enable.
The spying was not limited to Facebook. The parent company confirmed that users of Meta-owned Instagram were also targeted with malicious software.
The seven surveillance companies are located across four countries.
Facebook said it removed approximately 1,500 fake accounts, blocked malicious web addresses, and sent cease-and-desist letters to the companies.
Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Facebook's parent company Meta on Thursday banned seven surveillance-for-hire companies from the social media platform over concerns about spying that could affect close to 50,000 users.
The Facebook users across 100 countries may have been targeted by the surveillance companies working for both government agencies and private clients.
"We alerted around 50,000 people who we believe were targeted by these malicious activities worldwide, using the system we launched in 2015. We recently updated it to provide people with more granular details about the nature of targeting we detect, in line with the surveillance chain phases framework we shared above" states the report.
"Given the severity of their violations, we have banned them from our services. To help disrupt these activities, we blocked related internet infrastructure, putting them on notice that their targeting of people has no place on our platform."
The move comes after months of investigation by the parent company, which used terms such as "cyber-mercenaries" and "surveillance-for-hire" to describe the bad actors.
The Meta report says the banned companies provide "intrusive software tools and surveillance services indiscriminately to any customer -- regardless of who they target or the human rights abuses they might enable.
The spying was not limited to Facebook. The parent company confirmed that users of Meta-owned Instagram were also targeted with malicious software.
The seven surveillance companies are located across four countries.
Facebook said it removed approximately 1,500 fake accounts, blocked malicious web addresses, and sent cease-and-desist letters to the companies.
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