Facebook removes Trump campaign ads that look like Census forms hours after drawing criticism

WASHINGTON — Facebook will immediately remove Trump reelection campaign ads on its social media site that civil rights groups and Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, complained looked like official Census forms.

“There are policies in place to prevent confusion around the official U.S. Census and this is an example of those being enforced,” said a Facebook spokesman.

The move came just hours after Pelosi criticized Facebook for not stopping Republicans from posting ads that she said could mislead people. 

“This is on the part of Facebook a robust, unacceptable interference in the Census,’’ Pelosi said a press conference.

Vanita Gupta, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, tweeted the organization "worked hard with Facebook to put a robust census interference policy in place. Trump’s ads clearly violated that policy & should have been removed immediately."

With only days until most households start receiving an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census, members of Congress are increasing efforts to encourage people to respond by mail, online or by phone.

Leaders of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus held a press conference Thursday, calling it a priority to make sure communities of color are accurately counted. They argue those communities have historically been undercounted, costing them millions in federal funds. 

Pelosi said Republicans have posted information on Facebook that make it appear that people are clicking on official Census documents.

“It’s an absolute lie, a lie that is consistent with the misrepresentation policy of Facebook. But now they’re messing with who we are as Americans,’’ she said. “I know the profit motive is their business model, but it should not come at the cost of counting who is in our country.”

“It’s causing quite a stir,’’ Pelosi said.

Democrats, civil rights groups and others have complained about efforts to undermine the count and mislead citizens. They point to mailers sent to households by the Republican National Party that appear to look like an official Census form. 

Facebook and other social media companies have said they would work to make sure misleading information about census, elections and other issues would not be posted.

But Democrats pointed to the Facebook posts as the most recent problem.

As first reported by technology newsletter Popular Information, the Trump Make American Great Again Committee, one of the president’s reelection fundraising committees, bought ads on Facebook through the Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence Facebook pages to promote an “official 2020 Congressional District Census.”

Some of the ads include a picture of Trump making a thumbs-up while a “2020 census icon” flashes on screen, urging voters to “help shape president Trump’s winning strategy” and “take the survey.”

The text of the post tells Facebook users “President Trump needs you to take the Official 2020 Congressional District Census today.”

Clicking on the survey takes users to a website for the “Official 2020 Congressional District Census.” Although the website is labeled “Certified Website of President Donald J. Trump,” a box on the upper left hand corner of the screen says “for Official Use Only” and displays a “Survey ID.”

The survey then asks users about their opinions of Trump and his policies.

“Do you think Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left are putting their personal anti-Trump agenda ahead of what’s best for the American people?” one of the questions reads.

Census officials said they have tried to counter any misinformation and disinformation, through community partners and in advertisements.

“I hope the people won’t be fooled,’’ said Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada, head of the Congressional Black Caucus Census Task Force, asked the Trump administration to stop the practice.

“We know that there’s a deliberate disinformation campaign underway to discourage communities of color from participating in the census,’’ he said.

Rep. Judy Chu, head of CAPAC, said Democrats and community groups are particularly concerned about what will happen when the count is fully underway.

“That’s why we’re being so proactive … talking about what is really on the census and to pay attention to any fraudulent or misleading kinds of mail that is sent out,’’ said Chu, a Democrat from California.

Earlier Thursday, Gupta, called the Facebook posts "unacceptable."