October 22, 2020

Facebook Suspends Ads from Pro-Life Group After Biased Fact-Check Claims Biden-Harris Don't Support Abortion

photo credit: Kon Karampelas / Unsplash
After publishing ads for Susan B. Anthony List on Facebook and Instagram which pointed out that the Biden-Harris presidential ticket supports abortion "up to the moment of birth," Facebook (which owns both platforms) suspended Choose Life Marketing's Facebook Business Manager Account.

To justify the suspension, Facebook relied on a fact-check from The Dispatch, which was taken down by an editor. The Dispatch posted the following response on its website:

"The fact-check was published in error and in draft form, before it had been through final edits and our own internal fact-checking process. As a result, the viral post was assigned a “partly false” rating that we have determined is not justified after completing The Dispatch fact-checking process. We regret the error and apologize to the Women Speak Out PAC. We’ve pulled the fact-check and lifted the rating."

A Facebook spokesperson told the National Review that they were working to have the ads reinstated.

Choose Life Marketing Content Marketing Manager Marcie Little told Live Action News that Facebook's restrictions on its account are also preventing the organization from publishing ads for pro-life pregnancy centers. Furthermore, Facebook has told them that it may take weeks for the issue to be reviewed.

“This means for weeks, we won’t be able to run Facebook or Instagram ads for the pregnancy centers we serve,” Little said. “As paying customers of Facebook, it is appalling our account was locked without reason and their only answer for us is it might take weeks to hear back from them.”

“Our inability to run ads on two of the largest social media platforms these women use means they may not find out about the alternatives to abortion available to them,” Little continued.

“They won’t hear about the compassionate, caring pregnancy center staff who can listen to their fears and concerns about an unplanned pregnancy. They won’t learn about the free resources available to them if they choose life. The only option they’ll hear about is abortion, which has lasting negative impact on their lives — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Facebook will be responsible for women missing out on the care they need and deserve in one of the darkest, scariest moments of their lives.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley wrote in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that he plans on asking about this incident when Zuckerberg is under oath discussing big tech censorship in front of Congress in the coming weeks.

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