Facebook Bars Pro-Trump PAC From Advertising, Citing Repeated False Posts

Facebook declined to specify the length of the advertising ban or which posts prompted it.

Advertisement
Updated: 7 August 2020 10:57 IST
Highlights
  • PAC was founded in 2013 as Stop Hillary PAC
  • The group has spent more than $15 million to advance Trump's agenda
  • Politicians' ads and posts are not subject to Facebook fact-checking

Founded as Stop Hillary PAC in 2013, the group has spent more than $15 million to advance Trump's agenda

Facebook is temporarily banning a Republican political action committee, the Committee to Defend the President, from advertising after it repeatedly shared content that was deemed false by external fact-checkers, the social media company said on Thursday.

"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," Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement.

Advertisement

The company declined to specify the length of the advertising ban or which posts prompted it.

Politicians' ads and posts are not subject to Facebook fact-checking, a policy that has drawn heat from lawmakers, but content from political groups like PACs can be fact-checked.

The committee's Facebook page, which has almost 1 million "likes," has had four "false" or "partly false" fact-checking labels attached to content since the start of July.

Founded as the Stop Hillary PAC in 2013, the group has spent more than $15 million (roughly Rs. 112 crores) to advance the agenda of US President Donald Trump, according to its website. It claims to reach millions of Americans via digital and telemarketing channels.

Advertisement

Committee chairman Ted Harvey said in a statement the group would not be "silenced by 'woke' Silicon Valley elites" and would reallocate its Facebook budget to other platforms.

Reuters, a Facebook fact-checking partner, determined last month that one of the group's advertisements took a quote from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden out of context, misleadingly claiming he made racist comments in 1985.

Advertisement

The Biden campaign last year wrote to Facebook asking the company to reject an ad by the PAC that it said was false, according to a CNN report.

The Trump and Biden campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Advertisement

© Thomson Reuters 2020


Is Nord the iPhone SE of the OnePlus world? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
 

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. iQOO Neo 12 Launch Date, Colour Options Revealed
  2. How Large Is iPhone Duo's Battery? Apple Has Finally Revealed the Answer
  3. Redmi K100 Will Launch on This Date: See Design, New Colourway
  4. Airtel Launches Three Voice-and-SMS-Only Prepaid Recharge Plans
  5. Samsung Galaxy F70 5G With a 5,000mAh Battery Debuts in India: See Price
  6. OnePlus 16 Software Testing Reportedly Begins; Could Launch In India Soon
  7. Redmi Pad 3 Surfaces on Multiple Certification Sites Ahead of Launch
  1. Vivo V80 FE Reportedly Spotted on BIS Certification Website, India Launch Seems Imminent
  2. Airtel’s New Recharges in India Announced: Rs. 185, Rs. 203 and Rs. 206 Voice-Only Plans Details
  3. Vivo X500 Ultra Leak Reveals Launch Timeline, Chipset, Display and Key Specifications
  4. iQOO Neo 12 Launch Date Announced; Design, Colour Options Teased
  5. Qubic Halts Chain as Attacker Exploits Weak Seeds to Drain 1,400 Wallets
  6. iPhone Duo Battery Capacity Revealed Days Before Foldable Goes on Sale
  7. Poco X8s Gets Listed on Another Certification Website, Hinting at Imminent Launch
  8. Redmi Pad 3 Spotted on Multiple Certification Sites Ahead of Launch; Key Specifications Revealed
  9. Redmi K100 Launch Date Announced Along With Display Features, Colourway and More
  10. Goodbye One UI? Samsung’s Next Android Update May Be Renamed Galaxy OS
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.