- Teen Vogue on Wednesday published and then deleted an uncritical story about Facebook that has prompted widespread bewilderment.
- The story was about Facebook's 2020 election work, and some internet users suspected it was un-labelled sponsored content.
- But Teen Vogue then added a note saying it was sponsored content, before removing it again. A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider it wasn't sponsored content, then finally admitted it was.
- The Teen Vogue Twitter account said "literally idk" in response to an inquiry, and now the entire story has vanished.
An uncritical story in Teen Vogue about Facebook's efforts to secure its social network ahead of the 2020 election caused bewilderment over contradictory messages about whether it was paid for by Facebook — before it just disappeared completely.
On Wednesday, Teen Vogue published "How Facebook Is Helping Ensure the Integrity of the 2020 Election." It's a 2,000-plus-word story comprising a series of interviews with various senior Facebook employees about how the Silicon Valley tech giant is working to avoid nefarious political activity in the US's coming presidential election.
The positive tone of the piece, and lack of byline indicating who wrote it, led some on Twitter to speculate that it was a piece of sponsored content — that is, an article paid for and overseen by Facebook to promote itself.
This suspicion was seemingly confirmed when, some time after publishing, Teen Vogue appended a note to the top of the story, reading: "Editor's note: This is sponsored editorial content."
The note raised questions about editorial ethics — why wasn't this disclosed from the start? — but the saga didn't end there. Facebook instead denied that it was sponsored content, saying it was just a regular article, and the note disappeared from the top of the story again.
Sponsored native content, in which companies pay for media organizations to produce positive articles that appear similar to traditional news stories, are an increasingly popular method of monetization for many publications (including Business Insider). Some studies have been critical of the ad format, arguing they can mislead news consumers.
In an email to Business Insider (that she would later row back on), Facebook spokesperson Lisa Stratton said: "This piece is purely editorial. We pitched this to Teen Vogue and worked with their team on the piece over the past few months." (Companies' communication teams will sometimes pitch news outlets on possible stories, in the same way news outlets will reach out to companies to ask for interviews and access, and it's not a sign of a financial relationship or underhand behaviour.)
Teen Vogue, meanwhile, didn't have answers either. An employee with access to its official Twitter account responded with befuddlement to an inquiry in a now deleted tweet: "literally idk."
The story then abruptly vanished from Teen Vogue's website altogether.
Visitors to the URL were greeted with a message saying: "Unfortunately this page does not exist. Please check your URL or return to the Homepage."
Before it disappeared, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg posted approvingly about the Teen Vogue story on Facebook, writing: "Great Teen Vogue piece about five incredible women protecting elections on Facebook. Since 2016, we've worked to stop the spread of misinformation, fight foreign interference and voter suppression, improve transparency, and encourage people to vote."
Teen Vogue commented hours after the story was deleted, saying that it made "errors" with "labelling" and the post had been taken down to avoid "confusion."
"We made a series of errors labeling this piece, and we apologize for any confusion this may have caused," spokesperson Jaime Marsanico said in a statement to Business Insider. "We don't take our audience's trust for granted, and ultimately decided that the piece should be taken down entirely to avoid further confusion."
It's not clear how those "errors" transpired, who originally wrote the story, and whether the author was part of Teen Vogue's editorial or advertising teams.
Finally, Facebook issued another statement, saying that it had believed that it was an editorial story, but there was actually a "misunderstanding" and that Facebook had indeed had a deal with Teen Vogue relating to an event.
"We had a paid partnership with Teen Vogue related to their women's summit, which included sponsored content. Our team understood this story was purely editorial, but there was a misunderstanding," they said.
The New York Times also reported, citing sources at Facebook and Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast, that the article had been "commissioned as sponsored content."
Former Teen Vogue editorial director Philip Picardi, believing the post was sponsored content, attacked his former employer over the incident as it unfolded.
"I am so sorry to the @TeenVogue team for whatever irresponsible sales or marketing staff pushed this article into their feed, therefore discrediting all the GOOD work they've been doing to educate their audience about the REAL threats posed by @Facebook in our election," he wrote on Twitter.
"Oh, and [expletive] @Facebook and @fbnewsroom for using their billions earned from deceitful politicians and misinformation campaigns to attempt to buy their way into publications at @CondeNast. Their motives are so insidious, and they continue to be the downfall of democracy."
Regardless of whether the Teen Vogue story was sponsored content, Facebook has made use of the ad format in the past.
As Business Insider reported in April 2019, the company paid British newspaper The Daily Telegraph to run positive stories that defend it on hot-button issues that it has been criticised over, such as terrorist content, online safety, cyberbullying, fake accounts, and hate speech.
"Fake news, cyberbullying, artificial intelligence — it seems like life in the internet age can be a scary place," the articles said. "That's why Telegraph Spark and Facebook have teamed up to show how Facebook and other social media platforms are harnessing the power of the internet to protect your personal data."
Do you work at Facebook? Got a tip? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at (+1) 650-636-6268 using a non-work device, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at @robaeprice. (PR pitches by email only, please.)
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