Facebook has taken down an ad from the Trump campaign that went after antifa and leftist groups with a prominent display of an inverted red triangle in a black outline, a symbol the Nazis used for political dissenters.
Why it matters: Facebook has given politicians and campaigns wide latitude in what they say on its platform, but this appears to have been a step too far.
- While rare, it's not unheard of. Facebook in March took down Trump campaign ads that referred to a "census." The census it referred to was not the official U.S. Census, and Facebook had previously said it would take a strong stand on Census-related misinformation.
What they're saying: "We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate," Facebook said in a statement. "Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group's symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol."
Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said in a statement;
Between the lines: Others have disputed the Trump campaign's claim, as antifa supporters tend to instead use a different symbol — two flags surrounded by a circle — that dates back to opponents of the Nazis in 1930s Germany.
- ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement: “It is not difficult for one to criticize their political opponent without using Nazi-era imagery. We implore the Trump campaign to take greater caution and familiarize themselves with the historical context before doing so. Ignorance is not an excuse for appropriating hateful symbols."
- The Trump campaign has been running ads attacking Antifa and other groups on the left for much of the month, per Media Matters for America.
- The ads with the red triangle, posted under accounts for Donald Trump, VP Mike Pence and the Trump Campaign, were first posted on Wednesday.
Flashback: Twitter has been more aggressive in labeling content from Trump, fact-checking one post on voting by mail and labeling and limiting the promotion of another that it said glorified violence.
