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posted by janrinok on Sunday March 08 2020, @11:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the dishonest-politicians?-say-it-ain't-so dept.

Facebook pulls Trump campaign ads for fake census claims:

Facebook infamously has a broadly laissez-faire policy for political candidates. If you're running for office, you can lie as much as you want in your paid and unpaid content—with one small catch. Anything that lies about voting or the census, such as sharing fake registration links or deliberately spreading incorrect polling dates, is prohibited. Even if it comes directly from the Trump campaign.

It just turns out that Facebook needs a lot of prodding—in the form of negative media attention—to follow through.

The site Popular Information first reported on the Trump campaign's ads early yesterday. The sponsored posts, which appeared on the accounts of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, were paid for by the Trump Make America Great Again committee, a joint fundraising effort by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.

One ad Popular Information featured includes an image of a sheet of paper labeled "2020 census," next to a picture of Trump giving his characteristic thumbs up, and it exhorts readers, "President Trump needs you to take the Official 2020 Congressional District Census today." It continues, "The information we gather from this survey will help us craft our strategies for YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT."

Clicking through the ad directed readers to a website labeled as the "Certified Website of President Donald J. Trump," Popular Information reported, billing itself as the "Official 2020 Congressional District Census."

Popular Information pointed out to Facebook that the ads seem to violate the company's bright-line policy prohibiting "misleading information about when and how to participate in the census," but a spokesperson for the company at first disagreed. According to Facebook, since the campaign ads also referenced the campaign, it was clear they were not official Census advertising.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/technology/facebook-trump-census-ads.html

WASHINGTON — Facebook said on Thursday that it had removed misleading ads run by President Trump’s re-election campaign about the 2020 census, in a stand against disinformation ahead of the decennial population count that begins next week.

Earlier this week, Trump Make America Great Again, a joint fund-raising arm of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the Republican National Committee, started running ads on the social media site that Facebook said could have caused confusion about the timing of the census.

“President Trump needs you to take the Official 2020 Congressional District Census today. We need to hear from you before the most important election in American history,” the ad said. The campaign asked followers to “respond NOW” to help our campaign messaging strategy, with an appeal to text “TRUMP to 8022.”

The Census Bureau will not begin to survey the public for its population survey until next week. The ad linked the census to the Trump campaign, a misrepresentation of the official government survey, said civil rights groups.

The census has become another disinformation test for social media companies. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have come under pressure for their handling of political speech and what has been a piecemeal approach to policing their platforms. Candidates in this year’s presidential election are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on political ads, and the companies have already struggled to enforce consistent policies.

Facebook has taken the most permissive — and most criticized — approach to political speech, allowing candidates and their campaigns to post misleading information and target those messages to specific audiences.

https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-removed-misleading-census-ads-from-trump-campaign-2020-3

  • Facebook has removed a series of ads posted by the Trump campaign that gave the misleading impression respondents would be taking part in the official 2020 US census.
  • One of the ads reportedly read: "President Trump needs you to take the Official 2020 Congressional District Census today," implying the survey it linked to – a survey on Republican talking points – was the official census.
  • A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider that "there are policies in place to prevent confusion around the official US Census and this is an example of those being enforced."
  • Facebook has faced criticism for its general unwillingness to fact-check political ads published on its platform, though it seems to draw the line at interfering with the US census.

The story is also widely reported elsewhere.


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @12:57AM (29 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @12:57AM (#968361)

    I read on Al Gore's page that the main reason he went to Vietnam was because it looked better for his father's (and subsequently his own) political career. Yay.

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  • (Score: 5, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @01:58AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @01:58AM (#968376)

    At least he didn.t have bone spurs between his ears.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @02:52AM (25 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @02:52AM (#968392)

    What's your point? Why he went is irrelevant, but he went.

    What is truly galling are the ones that didn't go. Our current bone spur in chief is pathetic, but an unsurprising example of what money and privilege get you. Worse was the group of people that surrounded GWB. Those cretans not only got their deferments, but they went on to be the biggest war hawks in the modern era. The people on the Hill who served, particularly in war time, have a tremendous respect for what it means to be on the pointy end of the spear, and they have tremendous respect for what war and battle are and the importance of diplomacy. They were also the ones who spoke out against the deplorable torture tactics that were being used. The Republican Party of the last 20 years has no shame nor honor. Look at the Swift Boat treatment or how the current POS-in-chief treats current or former vets. Pissing on the graves of the ones who've died, and pardoning war criminals because they kiss his ass on TV. Absolutely shameful.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:47AM (10 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:47AM (#968405)

      Oh yes. Hillary's treatment of Benghazi, and the marines who were raring to go fight for their brothers, that was totally respectable. Praiseworthy! Should have won her all the votes.

      • (Score: 2) by meustrus on Monday March 09 2020, @01:48PM (1 child)

        by meustrus (4961) on Monday March 09 2020, @01:48PM (#968488)

        Right because Hillary is 100% what was meant by "The people on the Hill who served, particularly in war time".

        --
        If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
        • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:16PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:16PM (#968534)

          Anybody that served on Hill, wartime or not, deserves a medal and combat pay. Bill gets the tip of my hat. His stomach is stronger than mine.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:39PM (7 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:39PM (#968504)

        They couldn't have reached Benghazi in time no matter how gung-ho they were.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 09 2020, @04:02PM (6 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @04:02PM (#968522) Journal

          I'll type this really slow, so maybe you can keep up:

          IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU WERE TOO LATE TO SAVE YOUR COMRADES!! If you can't save them, YOU TAKE VENGEANCE!!

          I know, "Vengeance is mine", thus saith the Lord." We can talk about that in the after life.

          • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday March 09 2020, @04:47PM (3 children)

            by tangomargarine (667) on Monday March 09 2020, @04:47PM (#968542)

            Who exactly would you be wreaking your vengeance on? IIRC they were non-state actors.

            Sure, let's start busting down doors and killing random unrelated people in the country. I'm sure that would go over well internationally.

            If you want to find out *who was actually involved*, go find them, and punish them--fine. But is that going to happen the same day? Let's not go off half-cocked, here.

            --
            "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 09 2020, @04:56PM (2 children)

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @04:56PM (#968548) Journal

              You could take vengeance on anyone who was still present when you arrived, FFS. Doesn't matter whether they were state actors. What's with the negativism? Brothers in arms don't stand by, and allow their brothers to be butchered in the streets. At very, very least, those troops arriving too late to save their brethren could recover the bodies, and render as much respect as possible to those bodies.

              The only reason our Marines didn't go to Benghazi on the night of the attack, is our government leaders were a bunch of chickenshits.

              When you have a medical emergency, you call the EMT's and allow the experts to handle the situation.

              When you have troops under fire, you call the Marines, and all the experts to handle the situation.

              If the Commandant of the Marine Corps had suggested that the situation was untenable, and that he would not commit men to the mission, THEN I could understand not sending the troops.

              No such authority has ever uttered any such explanation. All that we have had are political excuses.

              • (Score: 4, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Monday March 09 2020, @07:44PM (1 child)

                by tangomargarine (667) on Monday March 09 2020, @07:44PM (#968629)

                You could take vengeance on anyone who was still present when you arrived, FFS. Doesn't matter whether they were state actors. What's with the negativism?

                Because the U.S. should set a better example than ISIS, randomly pulling people out of their houses and executing them in the streets. I really have to explain this to you?

                --
                "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
                • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 09 2020, @09:48PM

                  by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @09:48PM (#968707) Journal

                  Uhhhhh, nothing was said about pulling people out of their houses. THAT sort of stuff comes after - very much after, when investigations are being done.

                  If the grunts thought that they might have time to get there in time to save our people, then they were certainly close enough to get there before the - uhhhhh - "festivities" were ended. In effect, a riot. Encircle and extinguish. Or, at least encircle and detain for further investigation. People in their homes had little if anything to do with killing our people. Those who killed were IN THE STREETS.

                  I've had a lot bad to say about drone strikes killing random people, who may or may not be somehow related to some terrorists. In this case, the people in the streets pretty much all shared SOME degree of responsibility. So, anyone who surrendered would be detained, anyone who did not surrender could be shot down. THEN, the investigators arrive on scene.

                  As I said above, a military commander who was close enough to make the call should have made the call. Not a bunch of politicians, whose only thoughts were, "How will this look to the voters? How can I avoid a blemish on my record?"

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 10 2020, @12:59AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 10 2020, @12:59AM (#968789)

            Blood thirsty aren't we now. Where were you when the Liberty was attacked?

            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday March 10 2020, @01:19AM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 10 2020, @01:19AM (#968811) Journal

              Lemme think a moment. June 8, 1967? I think I was performing in a silly little school play, graduating from 6th grade. Singing 'Age of Aquarius', yadda yadda yadda. Or, maybe it was June 6th, or 8th, or whatever. We did your ceremonies the first week of June, on a Thursday I think it was.

              Not what you meant? You need to hear my condemnation of Israel for attacking a US ship? You've got it. It's been posted before on Soylent. I suppose you can do a site search for my name and USS Liberty. Despite the fact that I was just a kid when Liberty was attacked, I know enough about ships to decide that it was no "mistake". The Israelis meant to sink a US ship, they KNEW they were attacking a US ship.

              Anything else?

              No, I'm not a sycophant for Israel. I am something of a Zionist, kind of like in the hangers-on fringe. But, Zion and Israel are not synonymous, and there are plenty of Jews who will tell you the same.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @05:21AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @05:21AM (#968424)

      It turns out military service is a bullshit box that people thought needed to be checked.
      It turns out respecting the veterans is a bullshit box that people though needed to be checked.
      It turns out the constitution is just some optional guidelines.
      It turns out Twitter is the correct medium for conducting The People's business.

      It turns out that kissing the flag like a reality TV prima donna is what wins votes.
      It turns out that pussy grabbing and multiple bankruptcies don't matter one bit.

      Shiny politicians finessing subtle differences between serving in the National Guard or Army don't have to bother with that shit any more. That phase is over.

      • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday March 09 2020, @01:46PM (1 child)

        by nitehawk214 (1304) on Monday March 09 2020, @01:46PM (#968486)

        Now I am lost. Are you guys worshiping the military or not?

        Or are you just worshiping the military that shares your political ideals?

        --
        "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
        • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Monday March 09 2020, @03:56PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @03:56PM (#968517) Journal

          They don't worship the military. They worship (or profit from) keeping the swamp serviced.

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Monday March 09 2020, @04:00PM

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday March 09 2020, @04:00PM (#968520) Journal

        Yep, the magic (R) is a powerful shield.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 09 2020, @03:48PM (9 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @03:48PM (#968512) Journal

      I'm with you on a lot of that. I'll differ with you on the Swift boat thing, and John Kerry. Kerry is a prime example of those who SHOULD NOT serve - we don't need 'em, we don't want 'em. Come to think of it, the same can be said of both Clinton and Bush. Imagine, your ass is on the line, and you're depending on either of them . . . just put your head between your knees, and kiss your ass good-bye.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:57PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:57PM (#968518)

        You're an idiot if you think you know what people will do under fire. I suggest you read about Desmond Doss.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 09 2020, @04:06PM (4 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @04:06PM (#968525) Journal

          Leadership 101 - you evaluate people based on what you have observed, then make the best use of them possible based on that evaluation.

          Leadership 102 - timid motherfuckers always lose.

          Leadership 103 - Fortune favors the bold.

          I would boldly use Clinton, Bush, or Kerry as dragon bait, and have no regrets when the dragon eats them.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:10PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:10PM (#968530)

            Leadership 1 - Lead from the front.

            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 09 2020, @04:17PM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @04:17PM (#968536) Journal

              But, of course!! I actually want to save my dragon bait to be used again for another dragon. Sure, I'll be happy to lead from the front.

            • (Score: 2, Funny) by anubi on Monday March 09 2020, @06:04PM (1 child)

              by anubi (2828) on Monday March 09 2020, @06:04PM (#968569) Journal

              Lead from the front...

              That was yesterday.

              Today it's all push technology.

              --
              "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
              • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday March 09 2020, @08:15PM

                by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 09 2020, @08:15PM (#968648) Journal

                Lead from the front

                Lead is bad for you no matter where it comes from. See: Flint Michigan.

                --
                People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:04PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:04PM (#968523)

        John Kerry was OIC of a swift boat. What did you cammand? A Honey Barge?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:08PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @04:08PM (#968527)

          Typo: command not cammand. Fingers haven't woke up yet.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @09:55AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @09:55AM (#968452)

    I think going to Vietnam for political reasons is quite extreme, but it is a better reason than "just draft me! Abuse my body for your imperialist goals!" reasons that so many went for.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2020, @03:48PM (#968510)

      Do you think draftees had much of a choice? I got my draft notice while I was in basic training for the USAF.