Keeping Ad Tech in check
The Problem
From dangerous conspiracy theories to hate speech and non-consensual sexual images, our current online spaces are plagued by harmful and often illegal content that threatens our well-being and poisons our civil discourse.
Sadly, this content is inadvertently being funded by some of your most trusted brands.
The digital ad, or “ad tech” market is projected to be worth more than $700 billion by the end of 2024. Most of these ads are bought and sold algorithmically with little to no human oversight. That means that many brands have no idea where their ad dollars are ending up. And Big Tech companies like Google and Meta, who control this ad economy, have no interest in telling them.
As a result, everyday consumers are unwittingly bankrolling disinformation and other toxic content. It is part and parcel of an opaque industry that, until now, has operated with total impunity.
The Solution
The best way to combat hate and harmful content online is to pass laws that restore transparency and accountability to our online spaces and make them safer for everyone.
What You Can Do
If you are based in Canada, you can write to your MP and tell them to take action. If you are based in the United States, sign up for our emails to get the latest updates on how you can help. And don't forget to share this campaign on social media, and tell your friends and family!
You have a right to know where your money is going. And together, we have the power to make that happen.
Who We Are
This initiative is a partnership between Friends of Canadian Media and Check My Ads.
Friends of Canadian Media is a non-profit, non-partisan, citizens’ movement that stands up for Canadian voices in Canadian media. We work to protect and defend Canada’s rich cultural sovereignty and the healthy democracy it sustains.
Check My Ads is the digital advertising watchdog. We are a non-partisan community focused on ensuring that a transparent information economy exists for consumers and advertisers without the risk of harm to our democracy or real-world safety.
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Learn More
Want to learn more about this issue? Here are some useful resources to help break it down:
Read Craig Silverman and Ruth Talbot’s deep dive into Google’s ad business: Porn, Piracy, Fraud: What Lurks Inside Google’s Black Box Ad Empire by Craig Silverman and Ruth Talbot, ProPublica.
Read Check My Ads CEO, Claire Atkin, on how brands are unknowingly funding online disinformation: Are Your Ads Funding Disinformation?, by Claire Atkin, Harvard Business Review.
Check My Ads’ Claire Atkin appeared on MSNBC’s 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle and broke down how disinformation sites use adtech to threaten democracy and make a buck: Hate is a business, and here’s how you unplug it. by Claire Atkin, The 11th Hour, MSNBC.