Ads run on Meta to fundraise for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) bypassed EU legislation, according to a new analysis.
Global advocacy group Ekō said it identified at least 117 ads run on Meta platforms by two parallel funding groups from March 2025 to June 2025 that explicitly raised money for Israeli military units.
Ekō claims both groups targeted users in the United Kingdom and the European Union, raising roughly $2.4 million (€2.05 million) for the IDF from ads on their landing pages. Euronews Next is working to independently verify this number.
A previous Ekō analysis into Meta IDF fundraising found similar ads last year. The platform removed the ads when they were reported but “did nothing to stop the same publishers from launching new campaigns for the same military equipment,” the rights group said in a statement.
“Meta’s actions reveal a clear pattern: its advertising platform is not just failing to block these fundraising efforts — it is actively enabling them,” Ekō said in a statement sent to Euronews Next.
What did the ads say?
One of the ads run by US-registered charity Vaad Hatzedaka used the story of a rabbi to solicit donations for thermal drones that could “detect and eliminate deadly threats from Hamas,” to keep their fighters “one step ahead”.
The donation page includes information to donate generators, underwater drones, or thermal drones to the Israeli soldiers.
Another ad campaign reported by Ekō shows a repost by an Israeli singer where unit snipers in Jabalia, northern Gaza, are asking for shooting tripods.
The embedded link redirects users to the Chesed Fund, a US-registered charity that lets users send bulletproof vests, thermal drones or tactical helmets to the IDF on the frontlines.
The Chelsed Fund ad violated Meta’s ad policy about social issues, elections or politics, the advocacy group said.
Anyone who wants to post ads in the EU about political values and government or security and foreign affairs has to go through an “authorisation process” before being published on Meta platforms, according to the tech company’s guidelines.
The authorisation process requires ad posters to send in a piece of government-issued ID along with the page they run to Meta for review. The ads also have to have a “paid by” disclaimer to show who is funding it.
Anyone who violates Meta’s ad policies several times by running these ads without authorisation could face “permanent restrictions,” the company said, but it doesn’t expand on what these might be.
Ekō said the ads in the report were flagged to Meta, who told Euronews Next that they took down all of them.
How did these ads get past European laws?
The European Commission’s Digital Services Act (DSA) requires large online platforms with a reach of more than 45 million EU citizens a month to maintain a public ad repository and assess how their systems are manipulated or could contribute to societal risks.
Meta has a monthly user base of roughly 259 million in the EU, according to Commission estimates.
Platforms with these large user bases, such as Meta, have to disclose more information about ads they are seeing online, including why a user could be targeted by a specific campaign over others.
Maen Hammad, a researcher at Ekō, argues that the DSA also comes with obligations for Meta to “swiftly remove illegal content,” especially if it could break national charity laws.
“Ads fundraising for military gear, including drones allegedly used by a military under investigation for genocide to enforce a 'kill zone' in Gaza, likely break charity laws in several EU countries,” he said.
Hammad said Eko will be bringing these findings to the European Commission to see whether it breaches the act.
If the Commission decides to go ahead with an investigation, it could first ask for more information from Meta about its ad policies, conduct interviews with the company or inspect the company premises. Penalties for a DSA infringement could go up to six per cent of a company’s global turnover.
Euronews Next reached out to the Commission to see whether it had received the Ekō report or a request for an investigation but did not receive an immediate reply.
