Again, facebook causes controversy due to the display of ads promising miracle cures or unproven treatments for serious diseases. Blog MIT Technology Overviewfrom the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, exposed this situation by analyzing the content of numerous advertisements, often appearing on the social network, in which private clinics promise “kill cancer” with alternative methods.
The report in question puts a magnifying glass to the attention of two institutions: CHIPS Hospital D Verita Life. The former bills itself as the “original Gerson Therapy Hospital” and is located in Tijuana, Mexico; the second presents itself on its website as the “German Clinic for Integrative Cancer Medicine” with a presence in Thailand and Mexico.
Both use Facebook and Instagram ads to reach potential patients using browsing data collection by metaplatforms. In accordance with MIT Technology Overviewanyone who has searched the Internet for cancer cures from the United States has surely seen at least one of 20 or more ads What type of clinics do they use?
“Evidence from Facebook and Instagram users, medical researchers, and its own ad library suggests that Meta is riddled with advertisements containing sensational health claims from which it directly profits. Misleading ads can remain untouched for months and even years. Some of the ads reviewed […] They promoted treatments that have been shown to cause acute physical harm in some cases. Others have referred users to very expensive procedures with questionable results.”
MIT Technology Overview
Facebook flooded with ads about dubious cancer treatments
Regarding the CHIPSA hospital, the report mentions a case of an advertisement promoting the use of apaton to fight cancer. “We are fighting a losing battle. But now we have a new hope. A 100:1 combination of intravenous vitamin C and K3, known as apatone. KILLING CANCER,” reads a promotional Facebook post.
The use of apathone is not approved in the United States, so people who wish to receive treatment must travel to Mexico. MIT Technology Overview cites Skyler Johnson, a researcher at the University of Utah, who mentions that preclinical studies have shown “some anti-cancer effects”; but claims that not proven to be more beneficial than conventional treatments which are already being used against the disease.
In the case of Verita Life, Facebook ads promote the use of hyperthermia – which requires exposure to heat above 40 degrees on the area of the tumor – as a cure for cancer. The company claims that this method can destroy cancer cells without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue. This is, to put it mildly, a delusion. Although hyperthermia is used in cancer patients, it is not widely used; and those who use it usually do as additional method conventional treatments such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
According to the report, Facebook reported several ads posted by these clinics and removed them. The social network itself admitted that it unsubscribed for violating the misleading claims policy, which bans those that claim to “cure incurable diseases”. Among them is the use of Apatone. However, the measure is inconsistent and does not apply to everyone.
An automated process that is far from reliable
On both Facebook and Instagram, the process of viewing ads is mostly automated. This causes many advertisements to pass the initial filter despite the strict rules that Meta ensures they must be followed. And it also happens that many companies that tolerate the removal of their advertising, they successfully upload them again after a few months.
In fact, it has already been shown in the past that Mark Zuckerberg’s ad moderation methods far from infallible. In April 2021, an Australian organization proved that it is possible to create alcohol, gambling and vaping ads and target them to children aged 13 to 17.
And while Facebook has been trying to change its ad platform to no longer serve ads based on categories like “chemotherapy” or “religious beliefs,” it’s clearly not working. And it is not surprising that this is so; after all, internal documents proved that the company does not really know how much data it collects from its millions of users, not where they are, where they go or who uses them.
Source: Hiper Textual
