Ad transparency tools are major disappointment ahead of election, new study shows
Summary
The study, conducted between December and January, tested Alphabets Google Search and YouTube, Apples App Store and Microsofts Bing and LinkedIn, as well as services from Meta , Pinterest , Snap , TikTok, X and others. Election-related misinformation has been a major problem dating back to the 2016 presidential campaign, when Russian actors sought to deploy cheap and easy ways to spread inaccurate content across social platforms. "There is reason for serious concern about how AI could be used to mislead voters in campaigns," Josh Becker, a Democratic state senator in California, told CNBC in a February interview. Apples App Store, LinkedIn, Meta and TikTok received higher marks, though they were graded as still having "big gaps" in data and functionality. For Apples App Store tools, users and researchers cant see ad campaigns broken down by targeted country, which is an important feature for tracking election-related disinformation, according to the study.