Facebook quashes phony Trump Census ads

The social-media posts resembled fake Census mailers sent to Illinois voters

President Trump’s reelection campaign tried to take a phony Census questionnaire mailed to Illinois voters and adapt it to a Facebook ad — quashed by the social-media platform. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)

By Ted Cox

Facebook, which has tried to maintain a hands-off approach to the political process including openly allowing candidates to lie, has drawn the line at a Trump reelection ad designed to mimic a 2020 U.S. Census questionnaire.

The social-media platform took the rare step last week of disallowing ads promoting President Trump’s reelection that attempt to trick people into responding to an “Official 2020 Congressional District Census.”

The ads read: “President Trump needs you to take the Official 2020 Congressional District Census today. We need to hear from you before the most important election in American history.”

Only last month, Illinois Democrats took issue with a mailer sent to voters promoting the same survey questionnaire and funding request, also designed to look like an official Census document.

The ads ran on Facebook last week until U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised a fuss on Thursday, calling the ads “an absolute lie … a lie that is consistent with the misrepresentation policy of Facebook,” according to the Associated Press.

Facebook explained in a statement that it was not blocking the ads for their veracity, but because they threatened to infringe on the Census: “There are policies in place to prevent confusion around the official U.S. Census and this is an example of those being enforced.”

The New York Times reported that the ads were the work of Trump Make America Great Again, a joint fundraising arm of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the Republican National Committee.

The Illinois fliers included an RNC fundraising pitch, which prompted Illinois Democrats to warn citizens that the Census is formally forbidden to ask about bank or credit-card numbers or Social Security numbers, as well as soliciting donations of any kind.

According to the Times, Trump’s reelection campaign has declined to respond to reporters’ inquiries about the phony Census ads.

The Census Bureau is expected begin its actual population surveys this week.