Facebook is being grilled again this week. This time for the decision to remove a political ad from their site.
It’s been a back and forth battle for them as politicians question whether the company needs to fact-check ads. Is Facebook a digital platform hosting content for its users? Or are they responsible for making sure what’s posted on their site is accurate?
Earlier this month, President Trump ran an ad with false claims about Joe Biden. It was allowed to run. In response, Senator Elizabeth Warren ran a false ad about President Trump and Facebook. It was also allowed to run.
Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerburg says that they don’t fact-check or censor political ads. But it gets more complicated.
Can a politician pay to run ads that lie about another candidate? And will those ads be run in front of voters?
A political action group created an ad with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, appearing to say that he supports the Green New Deal. But this is fake. The ad clipped the audio to make it sound real, but Senator Lindsey Graham didn’t say that. His office confirmed that he still opposes the Green New Deal.
Facebook says since the ad was made by a Political Action Committee, not a politician, they will fact-check it and stop it from running.