In theory, Facebook’s ban on political advertising right before the election should have shielded voters from disinformation or political ads that were less than honest. But the ban contained a loophole. Any existing political coverage that had already been reviewed and approved was not removed. So, would-be influencers just made sure their ads were running before the ban went into effect.

Damon McCoy, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and director of the school’s Online Political Transparency Project, told the Daily Dot that the loophole created an “obvious strategy” for advertisers to “work in advance and do all your creative you want to run for that last week before the election and submit them and get them approved beforehand.” As a result of this loophole, readers saw political ads some 5.3 billion times between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3, a 5% increase from the the week prior, according to an analysis prepared by Global Witness.

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