The UK government has spent almost £100,000 of taxpayers’ money in the last week buying Facebook adverts in a bid to convince the public to support Theresa May’s Brexit deal – only for the key vote to be delayed. The data is contained in Facebook’s new political advertising transparency tools, which were finally launched last month in response to criticism about the role of social media advertising and so-called “dark ads” during the EU referendum. The data shows that the Conservatives spent a further £40,000 of their own money in the last week buying Facebook ads to promote Theresa May’s deal, a decision that could anger Tory activists who support a hard Brexit. The pro-Brexit group Britain’s Future spent more than £21,000 in the last week on Facebook adverts encouraging the public to email their MP and tell them to reject the deal. Labour did not pay for any adverts promoting the party’s Brexit position and the central party was outspent on all Facebook advertising in the last week by the Liberal Democrats.

Source: The Guardian December 10, 2018 14:38 UTC