The Biden, Harris, and Trump campaigns generated over 6 billion ad impressions on Meta Platforms during the 2024 presidential election, according to a new analysis by ElectionGraph. Additionally, another 5 billion impressions were from 4,377 Facebook pages that ran ads mentioning any presidential candidate.
The report highlights that President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaigns collectively outspent President-elect Donald Trump on Facebook and Instagram by approximately six times ($140 million compared to $24 million) between September 1, 2023, and November 5, 2024. Meta owns both social media platforms.
Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC) released the fourth quarterly ElectionGraph report. It identifies more than $6 million in negative ads funded by groups supported by Elon Musk. These ads targeted Harris in the campaign's final weeks.
Elon Musk is CEO of Tesla and owner of social media platform X. He has become a close advisor to Trump.
The report examines spending on Meta Platforms connected to several PACs backed by Musk: Progress 2028, Building America’s Future PAC, Future Coalition and FC PACs, Duty to America, FairElection Fund, RBG PAC, and America PAC.
These ads addressed issues like the economy and illegal immigration while also aiming to reduce Democratic support among Black Americans who smoke menthol cigarettes. They sent mixed messages about the Israel-Hamas war—highlighting Harris' support for Israel in Michigan to sway Arab and Muslim voters away from her while emphasizing her sympathy for Palestinians in Pennsylvania to deter Jewish voters.
This final installment of a yearlong research project aims to identify misinformation trends in the U.S. presidential election with support from Neo4j analytics software. The ElectionGraph team tracks message origins and misinformation using algorithmic classification of ads run on Facebook and Instagram. A publicly accessible dashboard was developed for exploring these findings.
“In the closing days of the election, shady groups with unclear motives ran duplicitous ads meant to manipulate the public’s understanding of candidate Harris’ policies,” said Jennifer Stromer-Galley from Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. “The fragmented information environment combined with weak regulation around campaign finance leaves the public vulnerable.”
While Meta allows approved organizations access to ad data—unlike TikTok or YouTube—the findings provide insight into information targeting voters ahead of elections from various groups with different motives.
Jim Webber from Neo4j noted that graph databases have been crucial in uncovering coordinated misinformation campaigns this cycle: “Using Neo4j... researchers illuminated vast networks acting together amplifying false narratives.”
Margaret Talev at IDJC commented: “Election ads can be influential but challenging regarding transparency due to reporting delays.”
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