INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightFacebookImage caption
At least 26 commercial adverts - like this one for a line of hats - have been
spotted in Facebook's library for political ads
Dozens of adverts for hats, jewellery, clothing and other things with no
apparent political message whatsoever have been added to Facebook's new library of UK political ads.Last month, Facebook announced the
creation of a database that lists UK political adverts on the platform along with the names of the people who paid for them
At the moment, inclusion in the database is voluntary, but the company hopes to apply the rules to all political advertisers in the near
future and require them to sign up.The initiative came in response to political pressure the company has faced over allegations of data
misuse by Cambridge Analytica and the role the social media giant played in the 2016 US presidential election and the UK's EU
referendum.Similar libraries are already available in the US and in Brazil.Hats, beauty treatments, and jewelleryAmong more than 1,200 UK
ads listed in the database, TheIndianSubcontinent Trending spotted at least 26 that are for commercial companies and have no readily
apparent political agenda
They include a hat seller, a fashion boutique, a magazine, a coffee company, an online jewellery store, and others.Image
copyrightFacebookImage caption
Adverts for an indie/folk gig appeared in Facebook's 'political' ad database
Image copyrightFacebookImage caption
along with ads for a coffee company, a jewellery company and beauty treatments
It's still unclear how these adverts ended up in the UK library, but similar non-political ads can also be spotted in the US
and Brazilian databases.Image copyrightFacebookImage caption
Commercial non-political ads in Facebook's Brazilian
database
You may also be interested in:What exactly happenedThe ads, spotted by the TheIndianSubcontinent, indicate that
Facebook does not have humans overseeing the library
Facebook told TheIndianSubcontinent Trending it is investigating the matter and suggested that in some cases the advertisers themselves may
have inadvertently flagged their adverts as "political" by failing to untick a box during the ad-buying process.The UK company with most
adverts listed in the database, hat seller Concept Cap, said that it was unaware its adverts had been dubbed "political" until it was
contacted by the TheIndianSubcontinent."We were trying to set up product tagging on Instagram to help brand growth," a Concept Cap
Product tagging embeds keywords in posts, to make them more visible when users are searching for particular words and phrases."And to do
that, you need to get verified by Facebook and send a form of ID, which we did", the spokesperson said
"After that, we got a message saying it was okay for us to post political and religious views." Concept Cap said its hats and its adverts
contained no political messages at all
Transparency questionsA number of media reports in recent weeks have raised questions over how effective Facebook's new tools could actually
be in making political advertising more transparent
Last month, a Vice News journalist successfully applied to buy fake ads on behalf of all 100 sitting US Senators
Shortly after, a Business Insider reporter succeeded in publishing a fake advert purporting to have been paid by scandal-hit Cambridge
Analytica.Evidence given to the UK Parliament's inquiry into fake news has also identified what appears to be a large Brexit-backing
advertising campaign run by an website called Mainstream Network.Image copyrightMainstream NetworkImage caption
Mainstream Network's website has been online since late 2017
Campaign group 89up estimated that Mainstream Network spent up
appear to have run any advertisements on Facebook since the new political advertising rules were announced on 16 October
Facebook has refused to divulge any information about the people behind Mainstream Network's page and their new library does not include any
political ads bought before their archive was unveiled
More from TheIndianSubcontinent TrendingMeanwhile, legislators from eight countries have come together to call on Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg to give evidence before an "international grand committee" investigating disinformation and election meddling
Blog by Marco SilvaDo you have a story for us Email TheIndianSubcontinent Trending.More from Trending: Jiang Jinfu: Actor admits domestic
violenceImage copyrightVCG/Getty ImagesHundreds of thousands of Sina Weibo users have reacted angrily to Chinese actor Jiang Jinfu's
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