Facebook takes down ads mentioning African-Americans and Hispanics, calling them political

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Dozens of advertisements removed from Facebook for being political ahead of the November midterm elections did not appear to express any political view. The ads from businesses, universities, nonprofits and other organizations did seem to have something in common: They mentioned "African-American," "Latino," "Hispanic," "Mexican," "women," "LGBT" or were written in Spanish. Even offers of free delivery from Chipotle Mexican Grill were mislabeled as political. Complaints are piling up that Facebook is miscategorizing ads as political when they are not, highlighting the enormous challenge of sifting through millions of ads. Flagging ads that mention race and identity point to the tense climate that has thrust Facebook into the uneasy role of arbiter of political discourse.


Facebook takes down ads mentioning African-Americans and Hispanics, calling them political