Revealed: Meta approved political ads in India that incited violence

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

68% : In this election, the BJP has been accused of using anti-Muslim rhetoric and stoking fears of attacks on Hindus, who make up 80% of the population, to garner votes.
51% : The adverts were created and submitted to Meta's ad library - the database of all adverts on Facebook and Instagram - by India Civil Watch International (ICWI) and Ekō, a corporate accountability organisation, to test Meta's mechanisms for detecting and blocking political content that could prove inflammatory or harmful during India's six-week election.
49% : Ads containing AI-manipulated images were submitted to Facebook by civil and corporate accountability groupsThe Facebook and Instagram owner Meta approved a series of AI-manipulated political adverts during India's election that spread disinformation and incited religious violence, according to a report shared exclusively with the Guardian.
39% : This meant these adverts could freely violate India's election rules, which stipulate all political advertising and political promotion is banned in the 48 hours before polling begins and during voting.

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