The World Bank has ceased all paid advertising on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, which was formerly Twitter, after a CBS News investigation found promoted advertisements from the organization showing up under a racist post from an account that prolifically posts pro-Nazi and white nationalist content. CBS News found a verified X account with more than 115,000 followers that had posted a racist image alongside a post praising Europe’s colonization of Africa. CBS News is not publicly identifying the accounts spreading racist content on X. A promoted advertisement for the World Bank showed up in the comments section below the post. “The World Bank Group had already reduced its paid marketing on X while working with the platform to implement the strongest safety protocols X offers for our content,” a spokesperson for the World Bank told CBS News on Friday, adding: “This latest incident is entirely unacceptable, and we are immediately ceasing all paid marketing on X.” (…) The account has shared dozens of antisemitic and racist posts over the course of the past week alone, and CBS News found promoted advertisements from numerous businesses under multiple posts from the account as it shared pro-Nazi content, including one post showing archival video of Adolf Hitler with the caption: “We defeated the wrong enemy.” That post has garnered more than two million views on the platform, according to X’s own metrics. CBS News has found more than a dozen accounts on X with the blue check indicating “verification” by the platform that have large followings and regularly post white nationalist or pro-Nazi content, and which have promoted advertisements from some recognizable brands showing up in their comments threads.
via cbs: World Bank halts paid advertising on X after CBS News finds its promoted ad under racist content
