A 'stunt' advertisement falsely claiming that U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham supported the Green New Deal was removed by Facebook last Saturday, Oct. 26, after being posted by a political group challenging the fact-checking policies of the social media giant.
Zuckerberg's site put to test
The ad which contained deceptive, false or misleading content was uploaded by a left-leaning Political Action Committee (PAC) known as The Really Online Lefty League. According to Adriel Hampton, the treasurer of the said group, he said he was inspired by the exchange between Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg during the Oct. 23 House Hearing wherein AOC asked Zuckerberg:
"Would I be able to run ads targeting republicans and primaries saying that they voted for the Green New Deal? ...If you're not fact checking political advertisements and to try to understand the bounds here..."
To which Zuckerberg answered back: "I don't know the answer to that off the top of my head..."
Facebook's Terms and Policies allows fact-checking of ads by political groups but not in politician's advertisements. This allows politicians to say whatever they want in a campaign and is commonly referred to as fake news. This decision of not allowing fact-checking ads by politicians draw outrage and doubt especially for Democratic candidates running in the 2020 United States presidential election such as former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
During the Graham ad that was airing last Friday, Senator Graham's office mentioned that they were aware of the ad and that they opposed such The Green New Deal. This deal was proposed by some Democrats and was spearheaded by Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez which aims to eliminate U.S. Greenhouse gases within a decade.
After the removal of the Graham ad on Saturday, Facebook spokesperson Tom Channick said that the ad was eligible for review by third-party fact-checking entities.
Facebook Trying its Best to Gain Back Trust
Aside from Facebook, all other social media platforms and sites are being required to tighten up their security especially during the approach of the 2020 U.S. elections. In connection with this, Facebook is starting a test on a new section on its mobile app called Facebook News that aims to produce "high quality news" and truthful reporting.
Facebook News also targets to have content coming from over 200 publishers including Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. However, Facebook came under fire from some political activists for including Breitbart News which is a right-wing news website. In order to combat this though, publishers that post misinformation would have their eligibility removed from Facebook News and be banned from the site.
Facebook taking down that fake political ad is a measure of its consistency in its approach to truthful ads. On the other hand, we cannot turn a blind eye on the bias that it has on its refusal to block misleading advertisements from politicians. But it all boils down to this - this situation is actually leaning towards Facebook being content with the spread of false news and even from chosen sources.
