John, Facebook decided that Donald Trump's conspiracy theory peddling was so harmful that his Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended for two years.
So why can he keep using the PACs he controls to share content on these platforms?
That’s right -- Trump may not be able to post on Facebook using his own account, but he has found a massive loophole to exploit: using political committees under his control to post content anyway. And unless we speak out, Facebook may continue to let him get away with it.
Sign the Petition: CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team cannot look the other way while Trump abuses their platform to undermine our democracy >>
John, here’s what’s going on: Trump’s political action committee, the Save America PAC, has been running Facebook ads that may as well be messages from Trump himself -- inviting users to attend Trump rallies, donate to Trump’s political efforts, and more.
Facebook is trying to claim that this doesn’t violate Trump’s suspension, so long as the ads are not being posted in Trump’s “voice.” But Facebook’s policy is extremely vague and not rooted in any campaign finance law -- and Trump is taking advantage.
In reality, all communications disseminated by this PAC, which Trump established and controls, are unquestionably in his voice.
Allowing Trump to exploit this loophole only signals to other violators of Facebook’s policies that they too can evade enforcement actions by using a different page run by a political committee or political entity under their control.
Add your name if you agree: Facebook must tighten its content moderation policies and close this dangerous loophole immediately.
If Facebook really wants to combat voter suppression and stop online hate, it must close this massive gap in its policies.
That means subjecting any Facebook pages run by a political committee that’s established, financed, maintained, or controlled by an individual to the same content moderation decisions as that individual’s own Facebook account.
I hope you’ll speak out today,
Devon Nir, Digital Strategies Manager
and the team at Common Cause
