Facebook users around the world are buying and selling Facebook accounts that are authorized to run political ads in the U.S., creating opportunities for foreign interference in the 2024 election, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) has found.

TTP identified multiple users offering Facebook accounts they say are approved to run ads in the category of “social issues, elections, or politics” in the U.S. Anyone who purchases accounts like these would have the ability to run U.S. election ads under the name of a fake identity.

This illicit trade clearly violates the policies of Facebook’s parent company Meta, which bans the buying and selling of accounts as well as misrepresentation and inauthentic behavior. It also echoes Facebook’s problems during the 2016 election campaign, when Russian operatives used stolen identities to run Facebook ads promoting Donald Trump and stoking political divisions.

In the wake of the Russia scandal, Facebook instituted a new policy that requires account administrators to submit a government-issued ID and residential mailing address to get authorized to run ads on social issues, elections, or politics. That policy remains a centerpiece of Meta’s election integrity efforts.

But Meta’s attention appears to falter after accounts have received the election ad authorization. TTP found Facebook users from Pakistan to Vietnam are offering these ad-enabled accounts for sale—sometimes with the ID documents used to verify them. By allowing this black market to operate on its platform, Meta is undermining its promise to safeguard elections.

TTP documented a similar trend during India’s general election earlier this year, with Facebook users selling accounts authorized to run political ads in that country. Now, Facebook is allowing this same kind of trade in U.S. accounts, at a time when U.S. federal authorities are warning about intensifying efforts by countries like Russia and Iran to interfere in the 2024 election.

TTP primarily examined English-language Facebook groups that traffic in these kinds of ad-enabled accounts. The following examples suggest that the users engaged in this activity are facing no obstacles from Meta.

Asked for comment about TTP's findings, Meta said it is reviewing the report.

TTP identified one user who posted in June 2024 about U.S. and U.K. accounts for sale in a public Facebook group called “A Community That Cares Pakistan Buy And Sell.” The post included a screenshot showing a U.S. Facebook account that had received approval from the platform to run ads about social issues, elections or politics. The post also offered “Verified IDs.”

This violates Meta’s Community Standards, which state that users cannot “attempt to or successfully sell, buy, or exchange” accounts. The company’s policies also bar users from misrepresenting themselves, which would apply to anyone who purchased these accounts and used them under the guise of a false or stolen identity. Meta says advertisers on its platforms must adhere to its Community Standards.

The seller in this case, who listed his location as Karachi, Pakistan, posted the same offer across multiple Facebook groups with thousands of members. One of the groups, “Degeverse by Hammad Kiyani (Buy & Sale),” had 34,600 members.

In another group, called “Fastest $1000 Per Month from Facebook Challenge,” users flooded the comments section of the post with inquiries about the price of the accounts. The seller responded to several of the interested buyers, telling them to “check inbox,” apparently having sent them a direct message. This is a common tactic in online black markets, where sellers often move the conversation from an open social media platform to a messaging app to conduct transactions out of public view.

The seller frequently sported a “top contributor” badge, which Facebook awards to people for “being one of the most active participants” in a group.

In a similar case identified by TTP, a Pakistan-based user posted an offer for a U.S. Facebook account that had been approved to run ads on social issues, elections, or politics. The July 2024 post appeared in a public Facebook group called “Cloning Ids,” which had 21,400 members and was filled with posts seeking to buy and sell Facebook accounts and cloned, or stolen, identity documents. (For example, several posts offered “fresh” US IDs with Gmail accounts.)

As with the previous examples, this seller had a “top contributor” badge. Meta handed out this designation even though the “Cloning Ids” group openly hosts an active trade in fake or stolen accounts and identity documents.

According to Meta, Facebook groups must uphold the company’s Community Standards, which ban the buying and selling of accounts as well as fake or forged documents.

It is not clear why Meta failed to detect these policy-violating posts. Meta says it reviews ads before they run to ensure they follow company standards. The company has also talked up the ability of its automated systems to understand text in images—including, presumably, the kinds of images highlighted in this report.

Another post identified by TTP from June 2024 offered Facebook business manager accounts for sale, including “empty election” accounts. The post, from a user in Vietnam, appeared in a private Facebook group called “Verified & Unverified BM & Profiles for Sale.” (“BM” is short for business manager, a type of Facebook account that can run multiple pages and ad campaigns.)

The post pointed to an outside website selling U.S. “bm election” accounts with an American flag symbol to show their country of origin. The prices on the accounts, listed in Vietnamese currency, ranged from about $11 to $18. The website currently lists these accounts as “out of stock,” suggesting that they have been bought up since the June Facebook post.

A separate Facebook post, from August 2024, offered “election BM” accounts and pointed to the same website.

TTP identified other examples of this activity across Facebook.

One user based in Vietnam posted in a public group looking to buy a political ad-approved account for the U.S. and received multiple replies from sellers, all in Vietnam.

Another user in Vietnam posted on their personal Facebook page on August 27 offering business manager election ad accounts for both the U.S. and Vietnam.

These findings are consistent with TTP’s previous research into Facebook’s thriving trade in business manager accounts. In November 2022, TTP found more than 100 Facebook groups where users buy and sell such accounts, including some approved to run ads on social, political, and election issues.

TTP identified a slew of other Facebook posts seeking to buy or sell U.S. Facebook accounts without specifying if they were intended for running election ads or other illicit purposes, such as spreading spam messages or trafficking illegal goods.

For example, one Facebook user wrote in September 2024, “I need a large number of old accounts in Japan and the United States.” The post appeared in a group called “facebook account and (dollar) buy&sell(bd).” Multiple members of the group commented on the September post, indicating they had accounts available to sell.

In August 2024, another user in a group called “Facebook Group And Page Buy & Sell ( OmniFluxs )”, with 202,700 members, posted that they needed a “USA location Confirmed Facebook ID with Gmail.” As with the above example, members of the group filled the comments section with offers of help.

In May 2024, a user in a group called “Facebook Ads Experts Community” posted a message that read, “Need verified fb ads account for running political ads,” though they did not say for which country or countries.

With the 2024 U.S. Election Day just seven weeks away and new fears emerging over the spread of online misinformation by foreign actors, Facebook is allowing users to buy and sell ad-enabled accounts that are key tools for election interference. What’s worse, this black market is not a new phenomenon: Facebook has for years allowed groups that do a robust trade in fake or stolen social media accounts, IDs, and other documents.

Unless Facebook cracks down on this illicit trade—much of which is taking place in the open—unscrupulous actors will have the means to interfere in the U.S. election and other election campaigns around the world.