1. A far-right website that LAUNCHED 36 DAYS AGO is already more popular on Facebook than the Washington Post
The DC Enquirer has executed an audacious scheme to manipulate Facebook's algorithm and ad platform
And @Meta is letting them get away with it
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
@Meta 2. The DC Enquirer controls a network of large Facebook pages that purport to be independent
They have names like Keep Texas Red ("We are an independent group of concerned Texans who want to help keep Texas from flipping blue") and Conservative Americans
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
@Meta 3. Each time DC Enquirer publishes an article, all of these "independent" Facebook pages post the link in unison
Here is what happened when DC Enquirer published "Freedom Convoy on the Verge of Victory as Multiple Canadian Provinces Announce an End to Restrictions" on February 9
@Meta 4. How do we know these posts are coordinated? The Facebook Pages in the DC Enquirer network publish these articles within seconds of each other with identical messages
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5. Some of the pages in the DC Enquirer network are very large. "Red Wave," for example, has 650K+ followers. Many of the other pages have 100K+ followers.
How did a new website gain control of such large pages?
By manipulating the Facebook ad platform
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
6. Let's take the Facebook page of DC Enquirer's founder, Brandon Gill.
Gill is not a particularly famous person.
He has a Twitter account with 55 followers.
He started his Facebook page on 11/6/21 and already has over 1,000,000 followers!
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
7. Gill has done this by spending heavily on manipulative Facebook ads that trick users into believing they are participating in a poll or petition about removing Biden (or other Dems) from office but are actually just collecting followers for his page
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
8. According to the Facebook ad library, Facebook pages in the DC Enquirer network have spent between $243,000 and $298,000 on manipulative Facebook ads like these since November.
They appear to violate Facebook's spam policy but it's not being enforced
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
9. These ads are manipulative but highly effective. They've allowed the DC Enquirer to build "Red Wave" from zero to 652,000 followers in 54 days.
They've had similar success with a bunch of other pages, including those just a few days old
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
10. According to CrowdTangle, an analytics service owned by Facebook, links to the DC Enquirer had 2.19 million engagements over the last 10 days
The Washington Post, which employs 1000+ journalists, had 1.49 million engagements in the same 10 days
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
11. Facebook was presented with all this information and declined to comment.
It's a $550B company, but it is unable or unwilling to enforce its own rules.
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12. Facebook has also declined to comment on a similar scheme I exposed yesterday that is run by the Conservative Brief, another far-right website.
Conservative Brief has more engagement on Facebook than the New York Times
Details:
13. The two schemes are also connected. Brandon Gill, founder and editor of DC Enquirer, "provides strategic marketing direction for Conservative Brief."
Some of the Facebook pages are involved in both schemes.
popular.info/p/a-far-right-…
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