Facebook Still Flooding Gay Men with HIV Falsehoods
Despite claims to the contrary, misleading ads continue
Facebook has failed to stop dangerously false HIV ads after promising to take action. Facebook has a serious problem with truthfulness and corporate responsibility. It’s bad enough they explicitly allow politicians to lie in paid ads, but policies with respect to false HIV ads are putting real people’s lives at risk and harming a global effort to stop the HIV epidemic. Facebook management must become more proactive and transparent. They must either get a handle on the problem or face public regulation.
Claims of victory prove premature as fake HIV ads roar back
Despite reporting to the contrary at the end of December, false and misleading Facebook ads continue to micro-target gay men and others at risk for HIV. On December 30, major news outlets like The Guardian and the Washington Post reported that Facebook was “quietly removing” false ads claiming Truvada, which prevents HIV infection in at-risk populations, leads to kidney failure and bone-density problems. Today, the ads are back, as prevalent as ever, and just as false.
