Trumpists like to exploit the internet in other ways. Several times I've seen a poll advertised on the internet asking people's opinion of Trump. In the fine print it is identified as an "official" poll managed from the White House, and probably rigged to favor Trump ( or even trap anti-Trump voters)
7
"The ad linked the census to the Trump campaign, a misrepresentation of the official government survey, said civil rights groups."
This is one of many cases where politicians exploit people's lack of education about how governments. For example, during his 2016 campaign Trump promised to "tell Congress" to change a Constitutional amendment that conservatives don't like. If the voters were educated they would know that Congress has no power to change amendments and Trump was giving a worthless promise.
I'm glad that I studied civics in high school and can tell (sometimes) when I'm being lied to.
17
So Facebook draws the line at the census, but continues to allow misleading ads about the election. Facebook continues to be the biggest disappointment when it comes to social media. Zuckerberg and Sanders have behaved irresponsibly in every way possible.
17
Perhaps the Times and the Post and all the leading newspapers in the country should start a Dirty Campaign Tricksters daily article and expose the money source of each untruthful ad...think Snopes meets Media Matters. That might drive the right behavior...shame them.
21
IS THIS LEGAL????? We are now descending to depths that one would expect from Russia and China, but not from an "enlightened" country....
13
This is fraud on the part of the Trump campaign.
21
I guess I'll have to revise my view of Facebook's permissiveness, or licencious tolerance, to allow lies and nonsense conspiracy theories in it's columns, just for the money. Apparently, it knows that Damocles' sword is hanging dangerously at somebody's ethical throat, and pressed to do what's prudent before it loses all credibility. Redemption pays for itself when decency re-appears.
5
This is just a reflection of the misrepresentation and misdirection of the Trump Administration and Trump's playbook during his entire life. Again proves that Trump continues to lack the credibility and respect for the office of President. He is the most incompetent, lawless, divisive and corrupt President in the history of the United States. A disgrace to America.
11
Does Facebook think this is the only misleading ad by the orange one's campaign? Cue the Ostrichs!
9
Is Fox an analog for Facebook, or vice versa?
8
Gee what great service to the citizenry.....Agree they should be pulled AND SO SHOULD THE OTHER LIES this administration and its henchmen put up. GROW UP FACEBOOK !
11
I've been on Facebook since 2006. I am appalled at how they are allowing lies and obfuscations about politicians to propagate like a virus. They should be sued for allowing fake news and slander about political and governmental representatives.
People are getting their news from Facebook and Facebook should insure the news is correct and not a manipulation by any political campaign. They should also continue to insure fake Facebook profiles are removed and stop fake groups and pages from activity unabated. Their desire for revenue had allowed America's democracy to be damaged, hopefully, not beyond repair. If there is a repeat of this in the 2020 elections, I will make sure to encourage my many friends to leave Facebook.
We already don't use Facebook as much as we used to because of how they allowed Russia and other enemies of America to proliferate and manipulate. I've encouraged all my friends to stop using memes that are inaccurate and to stop passing around information from pages set up to manipulate people on political issues. I've hidden all of them.
If Facebook can't insure high quality, or at least accurate information, to be passed around, they should be ignored as a news, media or "social" platform.
10
Census and voter ID are indirectly associated with the election,
as they should be. It is called "reality on the ground", not in the sky. Joe Biden did push for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor to shield his son. Why does Cecilia Kang refer to it as "false"?
1
They likely wouldn't have removed the ads, had Judd Legum not pursued and publicized the fact that they were allowing misleading Trump ads all over the place. Funny how this article doesn't mention that until 2/3 of the way down, as if it were coincidental. Do better reporting, NYTimes.
And yet another reason why folks should immediately dump any and all participation in that smarmy, useless cesspool. If you care in any way at all about fair and honest elections in this so-called Democracy, you might think about your support of FB.
But then again people don't seem concerned that every photo they put up on the FB site ( including photos of their innocent children ) are sucked up into the giant facial recognition farce & entered into Clearview, the NSA and every other rights destroying database out there.
So I guess why should anyone care if the "Prez-dent" & FB ruin the Census & the Election ?
5
At facebook it's okay to yell fire in a crowded theater.
13
“Policing” platforms is an inaccurate word. Newspapers do not “police” a newspaper’s content, nor do they “censor.” They have editors who make judgments. News is not just information, it’s information about which judgments have been made.
Facebook—indeed, all media—should exercise good editorial judgment. Facebook people appear to have done so in this instance. They need to have procedures in place where they do so thoroughly and consistently.
Sense is distinguished from nonsense by the word “no.”
10
THIS?! This is what Facebook takes down?!
Disinformation and misinformation is rampant on social media and FB removes a post that seems to associate the election with the census?
FB really is getting tough now! (Sarcasm)
5
As others have said, Facebook is the most powerful propaganda engine of all time.
Zuckerberg knows this and wants to control it absolutely and forever. He lusts for the power; it's that simple.
We know this because he has unlimited money, yet refuses to spend the comparatively modest amount it would take to eliminate monstrous Republican lies. Much less will he forgo the enormous profits (he does not need in the slightest) he reaps by disseminating Trump's propaganda.
"It's just business," is the lamest, most pathetic excuse ever used to destroy The Great American Experiment of representative democracy.
15
How bad does it have to be for Facebook and Zuckerberg to step up?
14
Can't wait to see the Trump/Pence ads about the Rapture and how it will cure the coronavirus
10
The GOP has only won ever by cheating. Next up: investigating Hunter Biden.
6
It's time for people to boycott Facebook and other social media companies that allow bogus political content.
13
it would be nice if they also followed up with a “You were lied to about the census ad” to all those who received the ad. “
it would be nice if people realized how much the trump campaign and administration lies.
25
I still hope the European Union fines Facebook so much money that it goes bankrupt.
13
It needs to be said that trump supporter and racism denier Peter Thiel sits on the board of facebook are we surprised that facebook is trying to help him win yet another election? And afterwards Zuckenberg will offer his tepid boyish apologies and face no consequences yet again.
13
Trump and his campaign seek to damage the census through a social media disinformation campaign
How is this not sedition?
How is this not a dereliction of duty?
Any other president would have been impeached - again.
Republicans have failed us - over and over and over again.
31
I feel that Facebook is taking a too lax stance on falsehoods. In the name of free speech, Facebook has been letting many misleading ads and videos play on its platform.
As much as I agree with the value of free speech, I feel that there is no value of misleading speech or false speech. Facebook letting a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi go around and other examples - of misleading speech, does not actually promote democracy (which in its ideal is about picking the person best suited to lead), because now democracy becomes who can lie and mislead better. This should NOT be the values we are teaching our kids - that we need to lie in order to win.
Hence, I am very disappointed in Facebook and I hope that they can take more proactive action against misleading and falsehoods. this is all the more impt in view of the upcoming elections and what Russia is trying to do to affect election results.
12
We're hand-wringing about Trump's authoritarianism while the citizens willingly install Orwellian telescreens throughout their homes. Even Orwell failed to imagine we'd carry telecreens in our pockets. "Ignorance is Strength" explains Trumpism, but it takes Facebook to make the ignorance trend to dominance.
12
Gloss is off Zuckerberg for us early Facebookers. We’ll always suspect his greed and carelessness helped get 45 elected. Just another dangerous monopoly who’s guiding principle is how much $ can be made and how quickly. Current version of capitalism in US not terribly creative or healthy for our society.
31
Mark Zuckerberg said last fall in a speech at Georgetown University that his company would not arbitrate the harms of speech from political leaders.
Mark Zuckerberg's thinking Ching-ching...
President Trump’s re-election campaign declined to comment on the ads.
President Trump’s re-election campaign went to far; to far even for Zuckerberg...
There are no saints here...
8
how can this even be legal?
I am completely serious.
28
Another day, another GOP con job. With any other president, the uproar about a con like this would last for weeks. We can barely digest this , or analyze its repercussions, because later today , there will be reports of the next piece of trickery, which Fox News will report as a witch hunt.
24
I left FB a while ago, it has become a cesspool of misinformation. I do not trust them and I do not trust Mark Zuckerberg. They seem to be allowing themselves to be taken over by far right-wing groups. No thank you.
31
@Maureen Totally agree! Apparently Zuck has no concern or respect for people's privacy and could care less about protecting democracy.
Especially if doing so cuts into FB's profits!
11
"At first, Facebook declined to remove Mr. Trump’s campaign ads on the census,..."
and
"...Other civil rights leaders said the delay in action by Facebook showed weakness in its own enforcement. They added that the social media network was not being proactive enough and had placed the burden on the public to inform them about abuses on the site..."
These excerpts say it all about Zuckerberg and Sandberg. They care more about clicks and ad revenues than they do about the integrity of our democracy.
Just think, FB was started by Zuckerberg, a somewhat smart but unlikeable and socially awkward jerk, just to get back at his much smarter classmate who dumped him.
16
Welcome to the perfect example of Facebook hypocrisy.
They claim it’s not their job to police truth or false hood, but here they are doing exactly that.
This is very simple. Where there’s real money involved they want to keep it, and if it means allowing lies and fraud on their platform they will absolutely do it.
This type of window dressing doesn’t change what a fungus this is on our country
15
Republicans have been doing the same thing locally in mailers here. They make it look like an official government form and has a bunch of census-like questions and solicits donations and support for Trump.
Republicans are the fraud party.
42
@Eric Agree 100% but I get official-looking junk mail all the time. We have become a fraud nation.
7
Why is the census more important than all the other dangers of Fake News and the liers who promote false and misleading political statements intended to influence susceptible readers?
In the news and political sphere, truth is vital if we are to have meaningful elections by an informed populace who are asked to select our governmental leaders.
FB is very disingenuous about its failure to block fake and false political postings. For myself, I am seriously considering leaving FB behind....
5
It’s shameful Facebook doesn’t have a fact checking department. Even the smallest magazines have them; validation of facts is a basic feature of the publishing industry. It’s how the published word earned authority over decades. Facebook acts as one of the world’s biggest publishers. Claiming fact checking constrains speech is baloney, and also dangerous.
17
"But Facebook said on Thursday that the Trump campaign’s message violated its [FB's] policy against interference in the census, ..."
FB arrogates to itself POLICY DECISIONS on the CENSUS, but not on ELECTIONS?
On what basis? Lying on (or about) the census is BAD, but lying about the election is irrelevant (or OK)?
Who elected FB the policy czar?
How about LYING is bad, without regard to what those lies relate to?
In my book, FB has no credibility at all. (And I do not use it.)
If you are silly enough to trust the content on FB without careful analysis, I have a bridge to sell you.
13
Facebook, Amazon, Walmart (and now sadly Whole Foods) are among those on my "there be dragons" list for putting profit and power before people, principle and prosperity for most if not all.
7
When will this stop? Perhaps when Facebook itself gets hit with a massive libel lawsuit. As an American media company it has a responsibility to exercise caution about what it "prints". People should start suing; money damages seem to be the only thing that works in Corporate America.
16
@Sandra
Facebook’s (flimsy) claim is that they aren’t a media company, which is how they get away with propagating intentionally misleadingly information and outright lies, and making hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.
Since FB draws the line at misleading people about the US census, surely the 2020 presidential election is even more worthy of protection from false and misleading information?
Facebook needs to be held to the same standards as traditional newsprint media.
27
Due to Facebook's lack of reasonable oversight, I haven't posted to my account in many months. I may have checked in once to see a post that a friend (No, a REAL friend.) shared with me, but that's it. I am within a thin hair of cancelling my account. It won't take much for me to extricate myself from that social media quagmire. It's of little positive use anymore. Unless you're trying to spread misinformation, that is. In which case it is the new greatest show on earth. Step right up...
10
Yeah, Facebook isn’t perfect.
However, where is the outrage for a nationally sanctioned “push poll” that is deliberately designed to cause confusion? Or in the eyes of its developers, a fake census that depresses the count of underrepresented citizens and non-citizens?
Let’s get the villain correct in this story. Thanks.
9
@PJD It's a given these days that Trump is one of the villains. This is what we've come to. It's like living in Gotham City before the arrival of Batman.
3
@PJD It's a given these days that Trump is one of the villains. This is what we've come to. It's like living in Gotham City before the arrival of Batman.
@PJD and you’re point is?
3
Facebook is cherry picking the lies it finds objectionable and those it doesn't. And even then, it apparently takes outside vigilance to get FB to do the right thing. I deactivated my FB account months ago and I was grateful that FB gave me an opportunity to say why. The reason is simple, the truth still matters.
40
Kudos to Facebook and Sheryl Sandberg for taking this step to stop the flow of false information and to block deceptive uses of Facebook.
As gatekeepers with the power to spread messaging nationwide, Facebook has a responsibility to apply a standard of truthfulness.
Without that standard, the platform is little more than a digital tabloid magazine.
3
@Elizabeth It is only a digital tabloid magazine. No more. No less.
4
Facebook like Amazon has become deeply unreliable. On Amazon is fake products and fake reviews. On Facebook it’s fake groups and fake posts. In neither side does there seem to be any sense of responsibility on the part of government to hold parties accountable.
24
So the president is purposely undermining the Census and the story is about Facebook? Something is wrong here.
80
@SPH
Exactly!
Impeachment should be the next step.
I care not about overly cautious swing-district sensibilities (and I live in one)—someone needs to stand up against this criminal president.
15
@SPH
The president undermining the census any way he can is old news. He’s been actively at it for the entirety of his administration and there have been multiple stories about it here at the NYT and elsewhere, the biggest being the citizenship question that went before the Supreme Court and was quashed.
8
@left coast finch Yes well, that's old news. This is new news.
3
Stopping the propagation of intentionally lying ads is a good step forward. But they should never be allowed to run in the first place. Once something is online it's online forever. Facebook should also create a "hall of shame" explaining who paid for the ads, how much Facebook made from them, why they were "removed," and how widely they were disseminated beforehand. This would serve as a snopes-like database if an ad's veracity is questioned.
53
I see this add all the time. Kind of annoying but I never thought it was the census....
2
@Nathan
How are you seeing “this add [sic] all the time” unless you’re still on Facebook and actively supporting its nefarious culture and manipulations? Delete your account now and pick up the phone or write a letter or email instead.
A highly-educated and socially-connected millennial I know told me just this week that she believes Facebook will go the way of MySpace within the decade because her cohort, the one advertisers and businesses are now desperately courting, don’t trust it nor are that desperate for any communication that requires it. They moved on long ago as should anyone else still trapped in its grasp.
10
@left coast finch I hope they didn't move on to Instagram – owned by Facebook.
1
....I dont agree with Facebook at all....but I mainly have it to get notifications from school
1
“The census has become another disinformation test for social media companies.”
The entire Trump Administration is a disinformation test for social media companies.
114
I keep wondering about restoring some updated version of the Fairness Doctrine. There's got to be some way to tame the wild west of internet disinformation & propaganda.
For a brief time in the 1980s, I worked on political ads, which were highly manipulative and misleading. But producers went to great pains to make sure that the things they put in ads were factually true... they cherry-picked to the extreme, but the facts were still the facts. That it is now OK for a campaign to air an ad claiming a candidate has committed a crime (especially one where investigation has occurred without result) is really beyond reason. If Facebook can't patrol itself, it's time for the govt to rein in Facebook. Freedom of speech should apply to bonafide users, but it should be restricted for ad-buyers.
70
Maybe I am too cynical but I suspect this is more about Facebook needing accurate census information for its business than worrying about any civic responsibility.
59
You’re probably right. Nothing seems to depraved to be plausible these days.
3