A recent report, authored by Check First in collaboration with Reset.tech and AI Forensics, unveils a narrative of how Meta’s advertising infrastructure has been exploited by a sanctioned Russian IT firm, the Social Design Agency (SDA). This exposé highlights systemic weaknesses in Meta’s ad moderation and compliance systems, enabling the SDA to disseminate disinformation and propaganda on a global scale.
The report focuses on the Doppelgänger operation, a propaganda campaign orchestrated by the Kremlin-linked SDA to manipulate public opinion. By leveraging Meta’s advertising systems, the SDA disseminated inflammatory content designed to undermine support for Ukraine and sow discord within Western democracies. The campaign’s tactics included the creation of counterfeit websites mimicking legitimate media outlets and the use of visually compelling, propaganda-laden cartoons.
The authors of the report note, “SDA-authored propaganda advertisements generated over 123,000 clicks and a minimum earning for Meta of ~$338,000 in the European Union alone, after SDA was sanctioned by the European Union in July 2023.”
Despite international sanctions imposed by the EU, U.S., and U.K. against the SDA, Meta continued to approve advertisements linked to the agency. The report reveals that Meta’s reliance on self-disclosure for advertiser identities facilitated this exploitation. According to the report, “The advertisements systematically circumvented Meta’s own political advertising policies, bypassing identity verification of the advertisers and the required disclaimers, while still reaching millions of users at a relatively low cost.”
Leaked documents further show that the SDA capitalized on Meta’s systemic vulnerabilities, with ads often approved within hours of submission. The report states, Meta’s systems repeatedly approved “ads created by SDA and pushed by a coordinated inauthentic network, highlighting critical gaps in enforcement.”
One of the SDA’s hallmark strategies was the rapid response to global incidents. For example, within 48 hours of the Hamas-led attack in October 2023, Meta-approved ads falsely accused Ukraine of supplying weapons to terrorists. Similarly, after the Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow, ads blaming Ukraine were quickly disseminated, reaching over 237,000 accounts within days.
The report raises significant concerns about Meta’s compliance with international sanctions and its obligations under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The findings underscore systemic issues, such as the failure to enforce identity verification for advertisers and the platform’s inability to detect content from well-known sanctioned entities like the SDA.
