One more time, Facebook is controversial for displaying ads that promise miracle cures or unproven treatments for serious illnesses. The blog MIT Technology Reviewfrom the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, exposed this situation after analyzing the content of multiple advertisements that frequently appear on the social network, in which private clinics promise “kill cancer” with alternative methods.
The report in question puts the magnifying glass on two institutions: CHIPSA Hospital Y Verita Life. The first promotes itself as “the original Gerson Therapy hospital” and is located in Tijuana, Mexico; the second presents itself on its website as a “German clinic for integrative cancer medicine”, with a presence in Thailand and Mexico.
Both use Facebook and Instagram ads to reach potential patients, taking advantage of the collection of browsing data carried out by the Meta platforms. In accordance with MIT Technology Reviewanyone who has searched the web for cancer treatments from the United States has surely seen at least one of the 20 or more advertisements What clinics of this type 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 profits directly. Misleading advertisements can remain untouched for months and even years Some of the advertisements reviewed […] They promoted treatments that have been shown to cause acute physical harm in some cases. Others directed users towards very expensive treatments with questionable results.”
MIT Technology Review
Facebook is flooded with ads with dubious cancer treatments
Regarding CHIPSA Hospital, the report mentions the case of an advertisement that promotes the use of apatone to fight cancer. “We are fighting a losing battle. But now we have a new hope. The combination of intravenous vitamin C and K3 in a 100:1 ratio known as Apatone. This specific combination causes a form of cell necrosis called autoschizis…it is KILLING cancer.” says the promoted post on Facebook.
The use of Apatone is not approved in the United States and therefore people who wish to undergo the treatment have to go to Mexico. MIT Technology Review quotes Skyler Johnson, a researcher at the University of Utah, who mentions that preclinical studies have shown “some anticancer effects”; but she maintains that not proven to be more beneficial than conventional treatments that are already used against the disease.
In the case of Verita Life, Facebook ads promote the use of the hyperthermia —which requires applying heat above 40 degrees to the area of the tumor— as a cure for cancer. The company claims that this method can destroy cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue around them. This is, to say the least, misleading. Although hyperthermia is used in cancer patients, it is not widely accepted; and those who do apply it usually do so as a complementary method conventional treatments such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
According to the report, several of the ads posted by these clinics have been reported and removed by Facebook. The social network itself acknowledged having unsubscribed for violating its misleading claims policy, which prohibits those that claim to “cure incurable diseases”. Among them, the use of Apatone. However, the measure is inconsistent and does not apply to everyone.
An automated process that is far from foolproof
On both Facebook and Instagram, the ad review process is mostly automated. This leads to many advertisements passing the initial filter, despite the strict guidelines that Meta ensures must be met. And it also happens that many companies that suffer the removal of their ads, they upload them again successfully after a few months.
In fact, it has already been shown in the past that the methods of Mark Zuckerberg’s company to moderate ads is far from infallible. In April 2021, an Australian organization proved that it was possible to create advertisements about alcohol, gambling and vaping, and target them to children between the ages of 13 and 17.
And while Facebook has tried to change its ad platform to no longer show ads based on categories like “chemotherapy” or “religious beliefs,” it’s clearly not working. And it is not surprising that it is so; after all, internal documents have proven that the company doesn’t really know how much data it collects from its millions of users, nor where they are, where they go or who uses them.