Skip to main content

Facebook is not taking down a misleading Trump campaign ad that shows a fight between protesters and police in Ukraine in 2014

* On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's reelection campaign posted an Facebook ad that misleadingly used a picture from a 2014 Ukraine protest to illustrate "chaos & violence." * The picture's photographer confirmed to Business Insider on Wednesday that the image is of pro-democracy protesters in Ukraine six years ago. * Facebook has not removed the advert, though it now appears to be inactive. * A source close to Facebook told Business Insider the platform will not delete the ad, and that politicians are exempt from its third-party fact-checking program. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Facebook will not remove a misleading advert by President Donald Trump's reelection campaign that used a 2014 photo from Ukraine to illustrate "chaos & violence," a source close to the company said. The ad, which was released on Facebook on Tuesday, sought to contrast "public safety" with "chaos & violence" with two images. The first showed Trump listening to law-enforcement officials, while the second showed an image of protesters appearing to attack a police officer. However, the image of the protesters was not taken in America in 2020, but in Kyiv, Ukraine, in March 2014. The picture's photographer, Mstyslav Chernov, confirmed the date and location of the image to Business Insider on Wednesday. Though the advert did not explicitly claim the picture is from the US, it comes at a time when civil unrest in American cities has become a key GOP campaigning point. A source close to Facebook told Business Insider on Thursday that the company is not removing the ad because politicians are exempt from the platform's third-party fact-checking program. According to Facebook's advertising archive, the ad is now inactive, meaning that it is not being shown to people. It is not clear when the ad was made inactive, and who made the decision to do it. Business Insider contacted Facebook for comment but did not immediately hear back. Before it went inactive, the ad had been distributed to pro-Trump groups like "Evangelicals for Trump." As of Thursday, fewer than 1,000 people have seen it, according to the advertising archive. Though politicians are exempt from Facebook's third-party fact-checking program, they can still be punished if they incite violence or voter suppression, which violates the platform's rules. Facebook has previously removed Trump campaign adverts over issues of census misinformation, copyright infringement and use of hate organization symbols as well. Tuesday's advert did not violate any copyright issues, as it was posted under a Creative Commons license to Wikimedia Commons. (Business Insider sought the additional permission of the photographer to publish the image.) The photo also happens to be the first image that appears in Google Images under the search term "protester attacks police officer," with the image permission settings toggled to "labeled for reuse with modification," as cyber threat analyst Nate Beach-Westmoreland pointed out in a tweet. There is no indication that the Trump campaign located the photo this way. The ad ran as tensions between law-enforcement officials and protesters are at a record high. Trump has said he supports the right to peaceful protest during the swell of activism that followed the police killing of George Floyd. However, his campaign has amped up rhetoric against what it says are violent protesters, and the issue has become a major focus for Trump's administration and reelection campaign. Trump has sent federal agents to quell protests in Portland — against the wishes of local officials — and has threatened to send more to other Democrat-led cities. The city's leaders have warned that the move will only amplify tensions between law enforcement and protesters.  A video uploaded to Trump's YouTube channel on Wednesday, which included clips of brawling and disorderly protesters, is titled: "Far-left fascists have turned Portland into a violent hellscape." * Read more: * A new Trump campaign ad depicting a police officer being attacked by protesters is actually a 2014 photo of pro-democracy protests in Ukraine * Mark Zuckerberg slammed speculation that he and Trump have a deal allowing Trump free rein on the platform in exchange for looser regulation * Conservative outlets regularly have the top-performing posts on Facebook — but Facebook says the full picture is more complicated Join the conversation about this story »
https://bit.ly/2D0AUyl

Popular posts from this blog

'Is Twitch on Roku?': No, not anymore — here's how to watch Twitch on your TV without using Roku

* There's no official Twitch app for Roku devices anymore, although there used to be one. * If you still have the old Twitch app installed, there's a chance it'll still work, but it's unlikely. * If you'd like to watch Twitch on your TV, you're better off using another device like an Amazon Fire TV Stick or Chromecast. * Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories. Twitch's acquisition by Amazon opened the door to some cool features, like Twitch Prime. However, the acquisition also means that now there's no way to watch Twitch on a Roku device — after all, Roku is one of Amazon's competitors. Twitch used to offer a fully featured app for Roku devices. If you try to download that app now, however, you'll be shown a message saying that the app has been shut down.  If you already had the app downloaded when it was shut down, it's likely that you can't use it anymore. And even if you can, there's going t...
Read more

How to send your location on Snapchat to your friends through the app's Snap Map feature

* You can send your location on Snapchat to a single friend or to several users in a group.   * To send a location on Snapchat, you'll need to visit your friendship history with a user and locate the "Send My Location" feature.  * Once you send a location on Snapchat to a friend, they can tap it and zoom in to see where you are.  * Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories. Whether you want to share the location of your favorite restaurant or the address of your new apartment, you can easily send your location on Snapchat to your friends.  You can do this using the Snap Map and will even be prompted to select who you want to share you location with the first time you use the app feature. You can choose to share your location with your mutual friends, a list of friends with exceptions, or a small group of selected friends.  To send your location directly to a mutual Snapchat friend, you must visit your chat history through your friends li...
Read more

Apple has backed down in its latest developer fight, apologizing to WordPress after it pressured the website-builder to add in-app payments

* Apple has apologized after it tried to force WordPress to add in-app payment options to a free app. * WordPress' founder said on Friday that Apple was refusing to allow any updates to the WordPress iOS app until the website builder added in-app purchases, from which Apple takes a 15-30% commission. * Apple is in a fierce fight with developers including "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and Spotify over its rules on in-app purchases. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Apple has backed down in its latest skirmish with a developer over its App Store rules. The tech giant on Sunday issued a rare apology to WordPress after it pressured the website builder to add payment options to its free iOS app, or else be blocked from updating. "We believe the issue with the WordPress app has been resolved," an Apple spokesman told The Verge. "Since the developer removed the display of their service payment options from the app, it is now a free st...
Read more