Facebook has banned an emerging Israeli company, The Spinner, from posting on its social platform, amid concerns about the company’s attempts to “brainwash” users with fake fake posts.
The Israeli company claims that it is able to make an "impact on the subconscious" on user thinking, by displaying misleading posts hidden in natural and unbiased editorial content.
The Spinner provides a "subconscious effect" service for a fee, and it works to brainwash by targeting users and exposing them to online publications classified as "compelling as editorial content".
The social networking giant objected to the Facebook and Instagram exploit by the Israeli company, and banned The Spinner and its boss from the two sites for any purpose.
Speaking to the BBC, Eliot Scheffler, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Spinner, revealed that this measure would not prevent the company from continuing its work. He also refused to exclude the use of Facebook in the future.
The Spinners site offers customers the chance to purchase a bunch of articles, in the hope of "brainwashing someone else".
Other campaigns include a set of articles aimed at getting parents to buy a dog (for example) for their children, or to persuade someone to stop smoking or use alcohol.
Some of the campaigns shown include morally repugnant things, including targeting a partner to persuade him to engage in a forbidden relationship. To do this, the site offers dozens of articles on this issue on targets over a specific period of time online, including social media.
The Facebook law firm sent a complaint to Mr. Scheffler about the Israeli company's practices, according to BBC reports. "It appears that Spinner is using fake accounts and fake Facebook pages to attract Facebook users through advertisements. These activities violate Facebook's terms and advertising policies. They demand that Facebook stop this activity immediately."
Facebook says that the ads have been removed now, but The Spinner claims to have been posting on the social site more than a year ago.
The Spinner works by sending a link to the target's phone, and when opened, it places a small file known as a cookie on the target device, which allows it to be identified and exposed to articles created specifically for other media.
Scheffler insists that the service is legitimate, and said, "This is not a technical breakthrough." He added, "We use common tools. We buy advertising service for five dollars per thousand impressions."
Doc Searles, author of "Surveillance Economics" said that although many people might find Spinner's tactics unacceptable, the tracking methods that other advertising companies usually use were worse.