First off, here’s the ad from the American Principles Project that Facebook will not be running after a review by PolitiFact:
Facebook just censored our PAC's $4 million ad campaign in Michigan attacking @JoeBiden and @SenGaryPeters
for their support for radical policies that would destroy women's sports. pic.twitter.com/dH8d8QrK7p— American Principles (@approject) September 15, 2020
For the record, Joe Biden said all the way back in January that there was “no room for compromise” and added that one of his top legislative priorities would be to pass the Equity Act, which would require schools to include biological males who identify as transgender on girls’ sports teams.
Here’s Terry Schilling, executive director of the American Principles Project Foundation, with a thread on why the group’s appeal was rejected:
We received final word from @PolitiFact today that the @approject ads appeal has been rejected. Here's why this policy is a joke and how @Facebook should correct it:
/Thread
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
@PolitiFact ran a fact check on our ads which claim that policies supported by @JoeBiden and @SenGaryPeters would destroy women's sports because they would allow for any male to identify as a woman and compete in women's athletic competitions. This is indisputable. /2
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
By making "gender identity" a protected class, any person or institution that questions the gender identity of an individual is at risk of violating civil rights law. /3
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
The @PolitiFact "fact-check" didn't correct any claims we made. There were no factual errors in our ad. In fact, Politifact stated that they "can't fact check our claims."
Instead, they said that our ad is "missing context" – which is quite an interesting new standard for ads /4
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
This "missing context" standard isn't to be found anywhere on @PolitiFact's website. In fact, when I asked their fact-checkers for guidance on how to fix our ads to meet this ambiguous standard, they refused — several times. /5
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
The point of campaign ads is that we get to make the arguments that we believe are most relevant. By requiring us (and only us) to abide this standard, they are forcing us to do the work of our political opponents who, frankly, get enough help from every other institution. /6
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
Here are some organizations who still have ads up and running that don't just have "missing context" but blatantly mislead voters… /7
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
The @ProjectLincoln is currently running ads which claim that @realDonaldTrump has "no plan" to keep America safe or to contain the virus. This is a blatant lie. President Trump has unveiled several initiatives to keep America safe and to contain the virus. /8 pic.twitter.com/Iiun4BXcTQ
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
Why is this ad still up and running? It's because @ProjectLincoln has the "correct" political ideology. Their ad is infinitely worse than ours at "missing context" and misleading voters. /9
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
@ProjectLincoln has another blatantly misleading ad that isn't just missing context – it deliberately takes @realDonaldTrump quotes out of context. They even make the claim that "it didn't have to be this way" in regard to COVID deaths. How can that be "fact-checked?" /10 pic.twitter.com/QCDBvl06zq
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
The @ProjectLincoln calls Trump a "draft-dodger" and make claims that @realDonaldTrump doesn't protect our troops and doesn't respect them. This should be fact-checked and immediately removed. It's not fact-checkable. pic.twitter.com/1WvYGwXkjq
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
This is a blatant example of @PolitiFact violating the "Code of Principles" set by the Independent Fact Check Network. Politifact also violated the rules of @Facebook for their fact-checkers by refusing to provide any guidance at all on how to get our ads in compliance. /12
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
Here's what @Facebook should do to fix this situation.
1. Force @PolitiFact to make their "context" standards public and provide guidance on how to fix ads in the future.
2. Remove any fact-check organizations who refuse to provide guidance on ad compliance from the IFCN. /13
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
and 3. Stop being silly. Err on letting voters decide what ads are true and false. That's what Democracy is about. If you don't trust voters to disseminate and analyze information — do you really trust them with voting at all? This entire system is anti-American. /end
— Terry Schilling ?? (@Schilling1776) September 16, 2020
Funny that this happens just as Hillary Clinton is putting Facebook on notice for spreading “weaponized disinformation.” Biden’s on record saying one of his top legislative priorities would be ensuring biological males could compete in girls’ sports, so what’s the problem?
Related:
Joe Biden has ‘no room for compromise’ on transgender rights, not even on sports teams https://t.co/YBW2HUVzKL
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 25, 2020
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