Danish broadcaster DR pays Meta for ads despite calling tech giants a democratic threat

Danish public broadcaster DR has purchased at least 113 paid advertisements on Meta’s platforms since mid-April, despite its director general previously warning that tech giants pose a threat to democracy, DR reports.

The ads—short, vertical-format videos targeting users aged 18 to 34—promote DR’s television and audio content on Facebook and Instagram. A review of Meta’s ad library by DR’s P1 Morgen program confirms the campaign, marking a shift from DR’s earlier reluctance to engage with social media advertising.

In January, DR’s director general Bjarne Corydon described tech giants as “enemies” with ideologies that “conduct foreign policy, political ideology, and geopolitics through their platforms,” warning they could undermine democracy. Yet DR now acknowledges paying the same companies to distribute its content.

Mikkel Andersen, DR’s head of media planning and user engagement, defended the move, stating the ads serve a public service purpose by reaching audiences DR would otherwise miss. “We only spend money to the extent that we achieve our goal: getting public service content to users we don’t otherwise reach,” Andersen told P1 Morgen. He conceded the decision was “fraught with dilemmas” but argued social media remains a significant part of media consumption habits.

When pressed on whether funding platforms deemed harmful to democracy was justified, Andersen replied: “The amount spent on paid marketing is very small compared to our overall marketing. It would be foolish to create excellent content if no one discovers it.”

DR has ruled out advertising on TikTok, citing prior decisions to avoid the platform. For now, Andersen said, the broadcaster is testing ads only on “platforms where we are permitted to be present—Meta, for example.”

Tech analyst Jonas Kuld Rathje, editor-in-chief of Teknologiens Mediehus, criticized the contradiction between Corydon’s warnings and DR’s actions. “It’s almost an admission that it’s a bad idea to pursue a strategy where you funnel more of DR’s content and money into the pockets of the very people Corydon describes in this way,” Rathje said.

Corydon himself framed the ads as a calculated maneuver, telling P1 Morgen: “Now we can also send a guerrilla expedition into hostile territory.”