Facebook Political Ad Collector

Facebook Political Ad Collector

Website
Facebook Political Ad Collector

Founded in 2017

This tool shows users the advertisements on their Facebook feeds and guesses which ones are political. It also shows users political advertisements aimed at other users. All political ads that are collected are put into a database that is publicly available.

Facebook Political Ad Collector is not affiliated with RAND. It was selected for this database because it fits our researchers' inclusion criteria.

Tool type
Disinformation tracking
Status
Fully operational
Intended users
General public
Cost
Free
Tool focus
This tool is both content- and process-focused. It directly evaluates information (e.g., authenticating a photo), but also assesses how information is produced and disseminated.
Method or technology
Crowdsourcing
Is the tool automated?
Yes
Founding organization
The Globe and Mail (Formerly by Propublica)
Founder/primary contact
Tom Cardoso

How is this tool working to address disinformation?

The tool has two aims. First, it seeks to provide users with more information about online targeting. This encourages people to be more aware of targeted advertisements and disinformation, and thus become more resilient to it. Second, the tool builds a database of political advertisements and targeting, aiming to put pressure on big tech companies to change their practices regarding transparency and how they handle political ads.

Is there a connection with tech platforms?

Yes. Facebook Political Ad Collector operates on Facebook's platform exclusively through a browser extension.

Who is funding the tool?

Information not available

Are there external evaluations?

None found

Search for tools that fight disinformation by name, type, or keyword:

examples: Hamilton 2.0, bot detection, fact-checking