One of Facebook’s largest advertisers, PragerU, spent between US$2,500–3,000 on promoting a post sharing a video, titled "Fires in Australia: the Left vs the Facts", that had been flagged for containing false information. The ad was initially spotted by Atlantic Council's digital forensic researcher Kanishk Karan.

The ad was seen by more than one million users in the United States when it ran between Jan. 7 and 12, according to Facebook’s Ad Library.

The incident shows that while the social media giant says it is working to remove misinformation about the fires, it is continuing to accept money in exchange for aiding the spread of false information.

The video — which begins with footage of actors Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Aniston talking about the bushfires at the Golden Globes — falsely claims arsonists are responsible for half of Australia’s bushfires, and "not climate change".

It also features debunked claims from an article published in The Australian newspaper that used misleading figures to overstate the role of arson in the bushfires.