Meta and X approved extremist hate speech ads ahead of German elections
A nonprofit watchdog found that Meta and X approved ads containing violent hate speech and calls for violence targeting Muslims and Jews ahead of Germany's February 2025 federal elections. X approved all 10 test ads submitted, while Meta approved half of them despite policies designed to flag sensitive election-related content.
What happened
Eko, a corporate responsibility nonprofit, tested whether Meta and X would approve ads containing hateful and violent messaging ahead of Germany's February 23 federal elections. The researchers submitted 10 test ads to each platform in mid-February containing anti-Muslim slurs, calls for immigrants to be imprisoned in concentration camps or gassed, calls for synagogues to be torched, and AI-generated imagery of mosques and synagogues being burnt.
X approved all 10 hate speech ads immediately. Meta approved 5 of the 10 ads within 12 hours, rejecting the other 5 citing risks of political or social sensitivity that might influence voting.
Reported impact
The approved ads contained violent hate speech likening Muslim refugees to a 'virus,' 'vermin,' or 'rodents,' branding Muslim immigrants as 'rapists,' and calling for them to be sterilized, burnt, or gassed. One approved Meta ad called for synagogues to be torched to 'stop the globalist Jewish rat agenda.'
Index analysis
Half of the AI-generated imagery used to illustrate the hate speech ads was not labeled as artificially generated, despite Meta having a policy requiring disclosure of AI imagery for ads about social issues, elections or politics.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.