Facebook axes Trump campaign ads in U-turn

Facebook Inc. removed Trump campaign ads on Thursday for violating its policy against misleading references to the United States census amid criticism that it has given politicians too much leeway to misinform users on its platform.

The Trump ads urged Facebook users to “take the official 2020 Congressional District Census today,” but despite the look and language of the ad, they were not related to the once- adecade national count of U. S. citizens happening this year. Instead, the ads linked to a survey on the “Certified Website of President Donald J. Trump,” which collected information and requested a donation.

Facebook initially said it would permit the ads, ruling that they were clearly not a part of the U.S. Census, according to Popular Information, a politically themed online newsletter that first reported on the ads and the company’s refusal to remove them. Facebook announced its policy against misleading references to the census in December.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, sharply criticized Facebook’s decision in a news conference Thursday. “I am particularly annoyed today at the actions of Facebook. Facebook has something that is an official document of Donald Trump as saying, ‘ Fill this out, this is a Census form’ — it is not. It is an absolute lie, a lie that is consistent with the misrepresentation policy of Facebook. But now they are messing with who we are as Americans,” Pelosi said, according to a transcript on her website.

Facebook reversed its position hours later, saying that the ads indeed violated its policy against “misrepresentation of the dates, locations, times and methods for census participation.”

Spokesman Andy Stone said, “There are policies in place to prevent confusion around the official U. S. Census, and this is an example of those being enforced.”

Asked about Facebook’s turnaround in its ruling about the Trump census ads, Stone said, “We conducted a further review.”

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh declined to comment. The ads were paid for by Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee in support of the president’s re-election.