META Meta Platforms Inc

By Emily Glazer and Janet Adamy 

Facebook Inc. removed Trump campaign ads that referred to a census, saying they violated a company policy aimed at preventing disinformation and other interference with the nationwide 2020 census, which goes online next week.

The ads, which began running on the social network this week, asked people to take the "Official 2020 Congressional District Census" and then directed users to a website for fundraising to support Mr. Trump's reelection. "The information we gather from this survey will help us craft our strategies for YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT," the ads said.

Facebook said Thursday that it was the first time the company removed a Trump campaign ad for violating its census interference policy. "There are policies to prevent confusion around the U.S. Census, and this is an example of those being enforced," a Facebook spokesman said.

The ads were paid for by Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the Republican National Committee. Representatives for Mr. Trump's reelection effort didn't respond to requests for comment.

Facebook and other social media platforms are under scrutiny for the way they handle political ads to prevent disinformation during this year's election season, and many of those same concerns have also come up with the 2020 census.

The census, which is required to take an accurate count of the population and apportion congressional seats, takes place once a decade. The 2020 census will be the first one where most Americans are asked to respond online, raising new challenges about security and preventing bad information from discouraging participation.

The Trump campaign ads were posted on Facebook pages for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and began running earlier this week. The Republican National Committee began circulating a similar ad via mail last year.

Tech and politics newsletter Popular Information initially reported on the Trump campaign Facebook ads related to a census.

Some of the campaign ads remained active, while others were inactive, as of Thursday afternoon, according to Facebook's ad library.

The ads drew heat from Democrats on Capitol Hill on Thursday who said the campaign solicitations might confuse people, whose participation in the census is crucial to obtaining an accurate nationwide count.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, before the ads were removed, "This is, on the part of Facebook, a robust unacceptable interference in the census."

She added at her weekly news conference, "I know the profit motive is their business model, but it should not come at the cost of counting who is in our country so that we can provide the services."

Asked about the ads at a Senate hearing, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told lawmakers that he has "asked the career staff at census to look into this and see what appropriate action, if any, we should be taking to deal with it."

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said the Republican National Committee mailing seemed to be deliberately trying to cause confusion.

"They don't know the difference between this document and what comes out officially from the census," she said.

"That could be," Mr. Ross said in response.

Facebook said the Trump campaign ads were in violation of the policy because they are misleading about how to participate in the official U.S. Census.

Census officials have raised concerns that social media platforms may be used to spread misinformation about the count. Facebook said it anticipates census interference may increase as it gets closer to Census Day.

The census is fully available next week, going online Thursday. Mailings from the Census Bureau urging people to participate will also begin arriving at homes next week.

Facebook announced in December a policy designed to prevent census interference by banning misleading information about "when and how to participate in the census and the consequences of participating." It also banned ads portraying census participation "as useless or meaningless" or advising people not to participate, according to the announcement.

The company, in its announcement of the new census-related policy, also referenced work it has done with the civil rights community as well as monthslong efforts among Facebook, the U.S. Census Bureau and experts with diverse backgrounds to develop appropriate rules to prohibit census interference on its platforms.

But some of those groups, including the Leadership Conference Education Fund, which works to promote and protect civil and human rights, pushed back on the time it took to take down the Trump campaign ads.

"While we're gratified that Facebook shut down Trump's attempt to sow confusion about how and when to participate in the 2020 Census, it's disturbing that the ads weren't immediately removed," a statement from Vanita Gupta, president and chief executive of the Education Fund said.

--Natalie Andrews contributed to this article.

Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com and Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2020 22:41 ET (03:41 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.