• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Write for us
  • Contact
  • Terms of service
Thursday, June 30, 2022
The Millennial Source
TMS
Home WORLD

Facebook bans ads from pro-Trump super PAC

byThe Millennial Source
August 7, 2020
in WORLD
Facebook announces ban on ads from pro-Trump super pac

Getty

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin



Facebook, Inc. announced on Thursday that it will ban advertisements from The Committee to Defend the President, a pro-President Donald Trump super PAC (political action committee), for violating its rule on misinformation. 

The ban will be in effect from August 1 till November 1, lasting for a minimum of 90 days.

Andy Stone, Facebook’s policy communications manager, said in a statement, “As a result of the Committee to Defend the President’s repeated sharing of content determined by third-party fact-checkers to be false, they will not be permitted to advertise for a period of time on our platform.” 

Stone didn’t specify which post triggered the ban. 

Facebook’s fact-checking policies do not prevent politicians and political candidates from lying on ads. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has defended this policy in the past stating that Facebook shouldn’t be “arbiters of truth.”

However, Facebook’s policies do subject political groups, including super PACs, to fact-checking by third-party groups. 

The policy states, “Taking action against repeat offenders: Pages and websites that repeatedly share false news will have some restrictions, including having their distribution reduced. They may also have their ability to monetize and advertise removed, and their ability to register as a news Page removed.”

The Committee to Defend the President has nearly 1 million followers on Facebook. Since 2018, it has spent more than US$300,000 on pro-Trump ads that have attracted much criticism from Democrats. 

In October 2019, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign wrote a letter to Facebook criticizing the ad run by the The Committee to Defend the President. 

The ad accused Biden, without any evidence, of blackmailing US allies and engaging in misconduct as a former vice president. It also claimed that Biden’s son Hunter was a board member of a Ukrainian energy company. The ad ended with the phrase, “Send Quid Pro Joe Biden into retirement.”

The Committee vows to move to other platforms

The super PAC’s chairman Ted Harvey told Fox News that Facebook’s action represents its determination to “restrict free speech and attack those who dare to support President Trump.”

“When their liberal, Trump-hating ‘fact-checkers’ complained about the Committee’s first ad for correctly calling out Joe Biden, we changed it. When those same ‘fact-checkers’ didn’t bother to check the facts or even watch our second ad, they still banned us.

“The Committee will not be silenced by ‘woke’ Silicon Valley elites, as we expose the real Joe Biden. We have reallocated our entire Facebook budget to other online platforms, so Americans can see the whole truth – not just Facebook’s truth,” Harvey went on to add. 

The ban comes a day after Facebook also removed a post from Trump’s official Facebook page stating that it “includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation.”

The post included a video of Trump telling Fox & Friends that schools should remain open.

“My view is that schools should be open. If you look at children, children are almost – and I would almost say definitely – but almost immune from this disease,” Trump said in the now removed video.

Trump falsely claims kids 'almost immune' from coronavirus

Have a tip or story? Get in touch with our reporters at [email protected]

Like TMS? Subscribe to our free daily newsletter

Related

Tags: North AmericaPoliticsShort read
Share5TweetShare

Latest Posts

period tracking apps

Why people in the US are deleting – and downloading – period tracking apps

June 30, 2022
Spotify R. Kelly

Spotify removed R. Kelly’s music in 2018, but then put it back up. What happens now that he’s a convicted sex offender?

June 30, 2022
Supreme Court abortion

The US Supreme Court’s abortion ruling

June 27, 2022

Here’s what’s happened at the G7 summit so far

June 27, 2022

The US orders Juul vapes off the market. Here’s what you need to know

June 24, 2022

US Senate agrees to fast-track new gun law

June 23, 2022

The fourth day of the January 6 hearings show Trump’s pressure campaign on election officials

June 22, 2022

Senator Ron Wyden proposes a tax increase on price-gouging oil companies

June 15, 2022

US House of Representatives holds primetime TV hearings on the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Here’s what you need to know

June 13, 2022

SUBSCRIBE TO THE TMS NEWSLETTER

By providing your email, you agree to our Privacy Policy

The Millennial Source Ltd. 2021

No Result
View All Result
  • Your daily briefing
  • About us
  • Explore
    • Startups
    • Climate change
    • Tech giants
    • Crypto
    • The future of work
    • Banking giants
    • Economy
  • Lifestyle
  • Human stories
  • TMS archives
  • Write for us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy & Terms

2022 The Millennial Source Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

string(24) "jsonld single post debug"
The Millennial Source
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.