Ads for several prominent Canadian companies and organizations have been appearing in the feeds of extremist accounts on X, prompting some of them to pause advertising on the social media platform following an investigation by CBC News.
They join a growing number of brands that are backing away from X, formerly known as Twitter, amid the unchecked rise in hateful content and owner Elon Musk’s seeming endorsement of antisemitic and other far-right conspiracy theories.
A review by CBC News of about two dozen accounts linked to white nationalists, white supremacists, misogynists and other extremists found ads by major brands such as Samsung Canada, CF Montréal and Pathways Alliance, an oil industry lobby group.
Ads for Samsung’s new Galaxy flip phone appeared in the results when searching for a hashtag used to circulate racist content, where other posts included messages such as “Keep Europe White.”
Samsung ads also appeared in the feed of an account that the Tech Transparency Project, a watchdog group, flagged for spreading Islamophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
In addition, Samsung ads were spotted in the feeds of Libs of TikTok, which LGBTQ advocates say stirs up anti-trans hatred, and Mike Cernovich, who has been described by extremism researchers as a “male supremacist.”
Samsung’s Canadian office did not respond to several emails sent by CBC News requesting comment.
An ad for Samsung Canada appears in the feed of an X account that the Tech Transparency Project, a watchdog group, has flagged for spreading Islamophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories. (X)
Pathways Alliance, which lobbies on behalf of such companies as Cenovus Energy and Suncor, had ads appear in Carl Benjamin’s feed. Benjamin has been kicked off other social media platforms in the past for making racist and misogynistic comments.
The lobby group’s ads also appeared in the feed of an individual who leads a far-right fitness group and whose posts include images of his sunwheel tattoo, a symbol popular among neo-Nazis.
Media representatives from Pathways Alliance did not respond to emails from CBC News asking for comment.
B’nai Brith plans to continue advertising
Ads for Montreal’s Major League Soccer team, CF Montréal, and for the Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada appeared in the feed of Richard Spencer, a well-known white nationalist who helped lead a march in 2017 where followers chanted “Jews will not replace us.”
CF Montréal did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, said despite his organization’s concerns about antisemitism on social media, it had no plans to stop advertising on X.
“B’nai Brith has made a conscious decision to remain on social media,” he said in an interview.
A B’nai Brith Canada ad appears on X within the feed of Richard Spencer, a white nationalist who helped lead a march in 2017 where anti-Jewish slogans were chanted. (Jonathan Montpetit/CBC)
“So if you’re making a conscious decision to stay in the social media space … there’s a lot of good and bad that comes with all of that.”
Other companies and organizations, though, said they halted advertising on X when informed by CBC News about where their ads were appearing.
Bell Media suspended advertising on X after it was informed that an ad for a subsidiary, the news division of Quebec TV network Noovo, appeared in the feed of the far-right fitness leader.
The ad appeared over a post that called journalists “priests of ruin” and featured the slogan “all journos are bastards.”
“Despite putting measures in place to protect Noovo from such a situation, it seems that X considered the offensive content from a third party to be moderate, which allowed our ad to appear alongside it,” Patrick Tremblay, a Bell Media spokesperson, said in a statement to CBC News last week.
“This situation is unacceptable. As a result, we have interrupted Bell Media advertising campaigns on X.”
Angus Reid, Sun Life cut ties with X
An ad for public opinion firm Angus Reid seeking survey participants appeared on an account called Anti White Watch, which researchers have noted spreads antisemitic and racist conspiracy theories.
“Our team met with X representatives in the past month to confirm that our ads account is set up with the most stringent sensitivity settings X offers. In this case, those controls appear to have failed,” Spencer Reynolds, director of marketing and communication at Angus Reid, said in an email.
“Angus Reid Forum has ceased all activity on X indefinitely pending a comprehensive review.”
Explosion of hate across social media platforms
Social media users from TikTok to X are being exposed to a deluge of different Islamophobic and antisemitic tropes — some of them perpetuated by people like Elon Musk, the owner of X.
The Appraisal Institute of Canada, an association of real estate valuation experts, paused its advertising campaign on X after it was informed its ads were appearing in the feeds of Carl Benjamin, Richard Spencer and an account linked to the white nationalist and antisemitic Groyper movement.
Ads for insurance giant Sun Life appeared in the feeds of multiple accounts of extremists, including Spencer’s, as part of a sponsored content campaign with the National Post.
Sun Life stopped advertising on X after Musk took over the platform last year, and the placement of the sponsored content ad was an error, a Sun Life representative said.
“We are very concerned that our ad appeared next to disturbing and hateful content and have had it removed from X,” Gannon Loftus, director of corporate communications, said in an email.
National Post-sponsored content bought by non-profits Mood Disorders Society of Canada and the Pedigree Foundation appeared in the feeds of Anti White Watch and Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist influencer who is facing human trafficking charges in Romania. (Tate denies the charges.)
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mood Disorders Society of Canada said: “We do not support or endorse extremist views or any perspectives that could potentially harm those we serve.”
The spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether the organization intended to continue advertising on X.
Neither the National Post nor the Pedigree Foundation responded to emails sent by CBC News. (Disclosure: In 2015, prior to joining CBC News, Jonathan Montpetit did contract work for Postmedia’s sponsored content unit.)
Musk’s tumultuous tenure
Advertisers have been increasingly reticent about doing business with X since Musk took over the platform in October 2022. Ad revenues have dropped more than 50 per cent year-over-year in every month since Musk bought Twitter for an estimated $44 billion US, Reuters reported this fall.
Among his first moves was firing staff responsible for content moderation and disbanding an advisory group on harmful content. In late July, he changed the name to X from Twitter.
Musk, who is also CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, restored dozens of accounts that had been booted off the platform for violating community standards, including that of former U.S. president Donald Trump.
In July, Musk announced he was changing the name of Twitter to X. Among his first moves when he took over the platform in October 2022 was firing staff responsible for content moderation and disbanding an advisory group on harmful content. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/The Associated Press)
One study released in April found that hate speech levels on what was then still called Twitter quadrupled following Musk’s takeover.
“[Musk] has decided that anything goes, basically, unless he disagrees with it. And it’s been a disaster,” said Wendy Via, president and co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, a non-profit that monitors far-right activity and has worked with Twitter in the past.
When buying ads from X, advertisers can request they not appear alongside certain forms of content. But without systems in place to monitor and categorize content accurately, there are few assurances that an advertiser’s wishes are respected, Via said.
Devon MacDonald, president of the Toronto-based advertising firm Cairns Oneil, said he advised his clients last year to stop advertising on the platform.
“We reached out to Twitter at the time to ask them a little about what brand safety controls were going to be applied with this new vision for the platform, and they weren’t able to give us any satisfactory answer,” MacDonald said.
“A brand wants to communicate their brand message. They want to communicate with consumers in a positive way that puts their product in a positive position. Harmful content works against that for them.”
Spreading conspiracy theories costly
Musk’s own behaviour both on and off the social media platform has only compounded the unease felt by advertisers.
He has repeatedly used his account, which now has more than 165 million followers, to spread far-right conspiracy theories, including about an attack on former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband and about billionaire George Soros.
On Nov. 15, Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory, drawing widespread condemnation, including from the White House.
Musk has repeatedly used his account, which now has more than 165 million followers, to spread far-right conspiracy theories. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
Within days, major brands, including the Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery and IBM, announced they were pausing advertising campaigns on X.
Musk later apologized for the antisemitic remark, calling it “the dumbest post I’ve ever done,” but he also lashed out at advertisers that had left the platform.
“If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f–k yourself,” he told an audience in New York City in late November.
In recent weeks, Musk has boosted the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory, which falsely maintains that top Democrats are involved in a pedophile ring operated from a Washington, D.C., pizza shop.
“The recent comments from Elon Musk and the recent activity on the platform just solidifies our position and makes us feel comfortable with not directing our dollars that way,” MacDonald said.
X did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
How X’s ads work
The company recently sued the progressive media monitoring group Media Matters after it published findings that ads for major brands were being displayed in close proximity to hateful content.
In court documents, X said the findings were not representative of the average user’s experience of the platform and that only one per cent of measured ads in 2023 appeared alongside content deemed to harm brand safety.
CBC News discovered the Canadian ads mentioned above by using this journalist’s long-standing X account to search the feeds of 25 accounts and hashtags known to be associated with the far right. The process involved spot checks between Nov. 28 and Dec 8.
These companies and organizations were not the only ones whose ads appeared in the feeds of extremist accounts. CBC News also reviewed several hashtags and extremist accounts on X that contained no ads at all.
Why there’s a flood of misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war
‘I have never seen this amount of misinformation and disinformation surrounding a conflict,’ said Layla Mashkoor, a Dubai-based associate editor at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab in Washington, D.C. Misinformation experts say X, formerly known as Twitter, has played a key role in the volume of false information surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.
Ad placement on X is determined by who a user follows, and what they post, search, view and interact with, the company says on its website.
According to the “Why this ad” function on X, the ads seen by CBC News were influenced by the journalist’s age, geographic location (Montreal) and inferred interests.
CBC News also consulted the X accounts of two non-journalists in Montreal to see what ads were displayed when scrolling the feeds of far-right accounts.
These searches revealed ads that were similar to those seen on the CBC journalist’s phone, including the B’nai Brith ad on Spencer’s account, the Pathways ads on the far-right fitness leader’s account and the Samsung ads on the same account.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
