Check My Ads Institute (CMA) is a left-of-center social media and advertising industry activist organization that pressures advertisers to drop their sponsorship of center-right and right-of-center websites and television programs under the guise of “rooting out disinformation and hate speech from their digital media buys.” 1
CMA was launched in 2020 by Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin. 2 The pair claims to be inspired by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), 3 and CMA leadership has said that “content moderation works better instead of keyword tech to solve for ‘brand safety.’” 4
History and Leadership
Check My Ads was launched in 2020 5 6 by Claire Atkin and Nandini Jammi, a co-founder of the left-of-center social media activism organization Sleeping Giants. 7 CMA received its Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax-exempt status in 2021. 8 9 Claire Atkin has said she is inspired by left-progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and both Atkin and Jammi have claimed to be inspired by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). 10
Atkin also runs a private-sector advertising firm called First Mountain 11 and has said she was “so disturbed by the role of social media in the 2016 Presidential Election that she went to Italy to take a course in international election observation.” 12 She has said that “systemic racism disproportionately harms and kills black people while white people live our lives without ever grappling with its pain” and that “white people bring unchecked attitudes and assumptions” about racial injustice. 13
Jammi was a co-founder of the left-of-center social media activism organization Sleeping Giants and is a self-described “brand safety advocate” 14 who believes “neutrality is no longer an option” for advertising. 15 She supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement 16 and predicted the United States Supreme Court would “throw the election for Trump” in 2020. 17 18
Activities and Funding
Check My Ads asserts that racism is fueled by the digital advertising industry and works to defund the most prominent voices in what they call “election fraud disinformation.” 19 CMA has said that “content moderation works better instead of keyword tech to solve for ‘brand safety,’” 20 and has taken proactive measures to release a list of websites where CMA says it is safe to advertise. 21 The organization also runs the Branded newsletter, which Atkin and Jammi launched to defund “hate speech and disinformation” 22 while Jammi was working at left-of-center social media activism organization Sleeping Giants. CMA will launch the Immeasurable podcast in early 2022. 23
CMA’s Branded newsletter has called Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, talk show hosts Glenn Beck and Dan Bongino, former Trump White House official and Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon “insurrectionists,” 24 “extremists,” and “profiteers holding our democratic process hostage.” CMA works to pressure advertisers to drop outlets associated with these persons. 25 26 27 The group has also thanked its readers for supporting advertising blacklist campaigns against The Federalist and One America News Network. 28
Check My Ads sends a daily action email to its subscribers that contains a template and contact information for advertising executives so its readers can demand they drop support for center-right and right-of-center content in the name of “brand safety.” 29 CMA supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement and encouraged its readers to make critical race theory-inspired “anti-racist” media. 30
Funding
Check My Ads Institute is funded by grants and individual donations and states it does not receive financial support from technology companies Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, or Amazon. 31 32 33
In 2020, CMA received a $5,000 Shuttleworth Foundation Flash Grant for “social change. 34 35
As of March 2022, CMA is running a fundraising campaign that asks for support to cut off funding from “J6 insurrectionists” including Carlson, Kirk, Bannon, Beck, Bongino, and journalist Tim Pool. 36
Associated Companies
Check My Ads Agency is a for-profit company that facilitates ad checks and is also co-founded by Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin. 37
References
- Kelly, M.J. “How two women are taking on the digital ad industry one brand at a time.” Dist://ed. March 24, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/interviews/nandini-jammi-claire-atkin-check-my-ads/.
- Kelly, M.J. “How two women are taking on the digital ad industry one brand at a time.” Dist://ed. March 24, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/interviews/nandini-jammi-claire-atkin-check-my-ads/.
- Kelly, M.J. “How two women are taking on the digital ad industry one brand at a time.” Dist://ed. March 24, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/interviews/nandini-jammi-claire-atkin-check-my-ads/.
- “How does bullshit news become news?” Branded. March 2, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/how-does-bullshit-news-become-news/.
- Kelly, M.J. “How two women are taking on the digital ad industry one brand at a time.” Dist://ed. March 24, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/interviews/nandini-jammi-claire-atkin-check-my-ads/.
- Sluis, Sarah.” Check My Ads Opens Shop to Audit broken Brand Safety Strategies.” Ad Exchanger. July 1, 2020. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/check-my-ads-opens-shop-to-audit-broken-brand-safety-strategies/?utm_source=branded.substack.com.
- “Defund the Insurrectionists.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://donorbox.org/j6.
- “Letter 947.” (Rev. 2-2020). Internal Revenue Service. November 18, 2021. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/dl/FinalLetter_87-1895699_CHECKMYADSINSTITUTE_08272021_00.tif.
- “Nandini Jammi.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandinijammi/.
- Kelly, M.J. “How two women are taking on the digital ad industry one brand at a time.” Dist://ed. March 24, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/interviews/nandini-jammi-claire-atkin-check-my-ads/.
- Sluis, Sarah.” Check My Ads Opens Shop to Audit broken Brand Safety Strategies.” Ad Exchanger. July 1, 2020. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/check-my-ads-opens-shop-to-audit-broken-brand-safety-strategies/?utm_source=branded.substack.com.
- Edelman, Gilad. “She Helped Wreck the News Business. Here’s Her Plan to Fix It.” Wired. August 13, 2017. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.wired.com/story/she-helped-wreck-the-news-business-heres-her-plan-to-fix-it/.
- Atkin, Claire. “Take ‘racism’ off your keyword blocklist.” Check My Ads Branded. June 3, 2020. Accessed March 20, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/take-racism-off-your-keyword-blocklist/.
- “Nandini Jammi.” Nandini Jammi Website. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://www.nandinijammi.com/.
- “Home.” Nandini Jammi. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://www.nandinijammi.com/.
- “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted June 3, 2020. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://twitter.com/nandoodles/status/1268244082666680320.
- “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted October 27, 2020. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://twitter.com/nandoodles/status/1321212094050672641.
- “Nandini Jammi.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 14, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandinijammi/.
- “Home.” Check my Ads. Accessed March 15, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/.
- “How does bullshit news become news?” Branded. March 2, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/how-does-bullshit-news-become-news/.
- “Here’s what you should do about your Fox News ads.” Check My Ads. March 18, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/heres-what-you-should-do-about-your/. https://web.archive.org/web/20200417101526/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1y06tKL_PMAww4Qv_M7Ba0ziMBokV0gwCMvS8huVX83U/edit#gid=0.
- “Welcome to BRANDED.” Check My Ads. January 13, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/coming-soon/.
- “Immeasurable.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/immeasurable/.
- “Defund the Insurrectionists.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/welcome-to-the-lemon-market/.
- “Here’s our plan to defund the insurrectionists.” Branded. January 5, 2022. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/j6-defund-the-insurrectionists/.
- “Defund the Insurrectionists.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://donorbox.org/j6.
- “Good news: You can advertise on bad news (it’s brand safe).” Check My Ads. April 1, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/good-news-you-can-advertise-on-bad/.
- “Welcome to the lemon market.” Check My Ads. May 20, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/welcome-to-the-lemon-market/.
- “Here’s our plan to defund the insurrectionists.” Branded. January 5, 2022. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/j6-defund-the-insurrectionists/.
- [1] “Take ‘racism’ off your keyword blocklist.” Check My Ads. June 3, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/take-racism-off-your-keyword-blocklist/.
- “Become a Checkmate.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/membership/.
- “Defund the Insurrectionists.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://donorbox.org/j6.
- “Become a Checkmate.” Check My Ads. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/coming-soon/.
- “‘Nobody Asks Us To Block The News’: Interview with an Ad Tech Seller.” Check My Ads. April 15, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://checkmyads.org/branded/nobody-asks-us-to-block-the-news/.
- “Flash Grants.” Shuttleworth Foundation. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://shuttleworthfoundation.org/fellows/flash-grants/.
- [1] “J6 Defund The Insurrectionists – Check My Ads.” Check My Ads. Posted January 6, 2022. Accessed March 18, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AOR_XlD6Zg&t=21s.
- “We are your independent brand advocate.” Check My Ads Agency. Accessed. March 19, 2022. https://www.checkmyads.co/about#contact.