Conservative Party caught out by Facebook spreading fake news online

Thumbs down sign beside Facebook logo


Support us and go ad-free

Facebook has caught the Conservative Party’s official page changing a BBC headline to push its propaganda. And the social media giant has taken the post down in response.

The Conservatives had put out an ad on Facebook referencing a BBC article. But as the BBC reported, they had apparently edited the headline:

The ad carried a BBC logo and headline saying “£14 billion pound cash boost for schools” – despite the story it linked to putting the figure at £7.1bn.

The BBC‘s head of statistics previously stressed that the ruling party’s misleading figures would “make the government seem more generous than it is in fact being”. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, meanwhile, had called the funding plan a “con trick” – stressing that it “would fail to reverse previous cuts”.

Many people were rightly concerned about the Conservatives faking the news article’s headline:

“Wrong” and “misleading”

Facebook said it would hold onto the ad as an example of how its tools are “misused”. The chief executive of anti-disinformation charity Full Fact, meanwhile, insisted:

It is wrong for the work of independent journalists to be altered in this way and misleading for readers. This government has previously agreed that UK election law must be updated and that the integrity of our elections is at risk. With an election increasingly likely, emergency legislation is needed to ensure online campaigning and advertising is truly open and transparent.​

The Conservative Party has claimed “it was not our intention to misrepresent”.

Featured image via Esther Vargas/Flickr

Support us and go ad-free

We need your help to keep speaking the truth

Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.

Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.

We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.

In return, you get:

* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop

Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.

With your help we can continue:

* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do

We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?

The Canary Support us

Related articles