【mê ho?c anh ??n nghi?n】Facebook's latest Trump ad takedown further exposes its laughable policies

Facebook has been pretty clear that it won't police the truthiness of political ads on mê ho?c anh ??n nghi?nits platform. But the company apparently does have some sort of threshold for removing certain ads, and it's pretty silly in the grand scheme of things.

As noted by Fast Company, a number of ads pushed out by President Trump's Make America Great Again Committee have been removed from the platform because they violated Facebook's "Advertising Policies."

Here's one example.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

This ad is a no-no. Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

As far as political ads go, this is one is relatively innocuous. (Well, depending on what you think about the repercussions of the killing of Qassem Soleimani.)The ad doesn't contain any outright lies or deepfakes.

The issue with the ad? Those YES and NO buttons at the top. Clicking those buttons doesn't actually contribute your vote to any poll. Instead, it sends you to a survey you can fill out that also happens to collect your personal data that the campaign can use to contact you in the future.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

This, as Fast Companypoints out, violates the "nonexistent functionality" part of Facebook's advertising policy. That part states that ads can't "contain images that portray nonexistent functionality. This includes imagery that replicates play buttons, notifications, or checkboxes, as well as ads containing features that do not work, such as multiple choice options in the ad creative itself."

Even though the text above the image clearly states that a survey is involved, those buttons are a sneaky way of getting users (many of whom probably don't bother reading that text) to click through, which clearly violates this portion of the policy.

SEE ALSO: Facebook: Lies in political ads are allowed, but you can choose to see fewer of them

As if to prove this point, the exact same ad– minus the fake poll buttons in the image but still linked to the survey – is alive and well on Facebook.

This ad is totally fine. Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

Considering the damage and misinformation that can (and has) been spread on Facebook via political ads, flagging an ad because it has fake buttons is a laughable level of technicality. It's like nailing mob bosses for tax evasion after they've already run rampant for years, causing general mayhem.

But if there's one thing that defines Facebook, it's "too little, too late," so I'm not sure what else we should have expected.

Topics Facebook Social Media Donald Trump Politics

• relaxation
• synthesize
• fashion
• hotspot
• focus
• explore
• recreation
• knowledge

• A Day for Cake, a Century of Laughs
• Alabama #RushTok: The terms you need to know
• Fitbit reveals new Sense 2 and Versa 4 smartwatches, plus Inspire 3 fitness tracker
• Make this TikTok
• ‘Manzanar to Mount Whitney’ Author to Speak at JCI
• 10 pets of athletes to follow on Instagram
• 'Heardle' today: Correct answer and song hints for August 11
• A physicist became a viral troll by saying a slice of sausage was a star. He later apologized.
• Pinnacle Cup IV playoffs set to start; Bad News Eagles, TYLOO among invites
• Alabama #RushTok: The terms you need to know

• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for January 12
• The coolest and weirdest gaming announcements from CES 2023
• The 10 video games we're most excited about in 2023
• Meta Quest 1 will no longer get feature updates
• Picsart's new SketchAI app is transforming images into digital art
• Samsung Galaxy Unpacked kicks off Feb. 1
• Twitter is offering to match advertisers spending up to $250,000
• Bank fraud in the internet era is worse than ever. Here's how to protect yourself.
• How does the head of New York Times Games play Wordle?
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for January 10

• blameF defeats former Astralis teammates in Pro League opener
• BookTok is highlighting the best romance reads
• YouTube promises to remove abortion misinformation from the site
• What is 'Buy Now, Pay Later' and who does it hurt?
• rigoN: "It's our third Major, we want to go to this arena"
• How to protect your privacy in a post
• The iPhone 12's 0.5 selfie trend is a nostalgic protest against Instagram perfection
• The Redditors of r/wallstreetbets have made Bed Bath & Beyond into their latest meme stock
• Keepers of the Flame
• I ate at the cat food restaurant in NYC

• fnatic celebrate return to Majors with victory over Cloud9
• TikTok's Book Club is now (unsurprisingly) Amazon
• Make this TikTok
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for August 25
• Obon Festival, Odori Exercise Class at Oxnard Buddhist Temple
• Lofi Girl music livestream goes offline thanks to false Youtube copyright claim
• 'Heardle' today: Correct answer and song hints for August 11
• Homemade air fryer pizza roll recipe using wonton wrappers is perfection
• The Shogun of Santas
• TikTok creators and influencers are protesting against Amazon