"Consumer group reveals Meta permits crowdfunded ads for IDF drones"

Recent findings reveal that Meta is displaying content on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads from groups supporting Israel that seek contributions for military gear, including drones and tactical equipment for Israeli army battalions. This activity appears to conflict with Meta’s advertising guidelines.

One post on Facebook, still visible as of July 17 after being published on June 11, stated, “We are the sniper team of Unit Shaked, stationed in Gaza, and we urgently need shooting tripods to complete our mission in Jabalia.”

A global advocacy organization, Ekō, first identified and reported these paid promotions to Meta. The group found at least 117 such posts since March 2025 explicitly requesting funds for military supplies for the Israeli army. This marks the second instance where Ekō has alerted Meta about these publishers. A prior inquiry in December 2024 led to the removal of 98 similar posts after they were flagged. However, Meta has since permitted the same publishers to launch fresh campaigns with nearly identical content. The Israeli army is not directly involved in these fundraising efforts.

“This demonstrates that Meta is willing to profit from nearly any source,” said Maen Hammad, an Ekō representative. “The safeguards that should be in place are often missing, and when enforced, they come too late.”

Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels stated that the company reviewed and took down the flagged content after inquiries from *CuriosityNews* and Ekō, as they violated its policies. Meta requires all promotions related to social issues, elections, or politics to undergo approval and feature a disclosure of the funding source. These posts lacked such disclaimers.

According to Ekō, these promotions received at least 76,000 views—representing how often an ad was displayed—in the EU and UK alone. The organization could not verify the view count in the US.

Among the more recent posts, at least 97, including some still active, requested donations for specific models of commercial drones. A report from *+972* magazine suggests these drones have reportedly been used by Israeli forces to drop explosives on Palestinians, many of whom were unarmed. While these small drones are typically for photography and sold on platforms like Amazon, soldiers have modified them to carry explosives, partly due to their lower cost compared to military drones, according to anonymous Israeli soldiers who spoke with *+972*.

Another post read, “Most of our drones are broken and falling apart—and we don’t have any replacements. Donate now—every second counts, every drone saves lives.”

It remains uncertain whether the funds from these specific posts were used to purchase drones, but soldiers told *+972* they had received low-cost drones, made by a Chinese company called Autel, through donations and fundraising efforts, including those on Facebook.