Dealing in a “fact check” rife with obscure language, Facebook has censored a conservative ad critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The latest example of the deceptive censorship practice came when a pro-Trump super PAC launched an ad on Facebook Aug. 4. After being slapped with a misleading “mostly false” rating by PolitiFact, the 30-second video — which includes a direct quote from Biden, saying, “If you elect me, your taxes are going to be raised, not cut” — Facebook blocked the ad.
The America First Action Super PAC also referenced research from the Tax Policy Center, which states Biden’s plan would see tax increases “on all income groups.”
Quite ironically, you don’t have to look any further than PolitiFact’s own fact check to learn the censored ad is, in reality, factually accurate. Within the first three paragraphs, writer Bill McCarthy admits the conservative advertisement really is truthful (emphasis added):
A new ad from a pro-Trump super PAC uses out-of-context footage of Joe Biden to claim that the former vice president wants to raise taxes for Americans across the board.
Versions of the ad from America First Action began airing Aug. 4 on Facebook and on TV screens in Wisconsin and North Carolina. They focus largely on a comment Biden made in response to a voter during a February campaign stop in South Carolina.
But the America First Action ad presents that remark out of context. And while some tax experts estimate that Biden’s plan would mean higher taxes on average for all income groups, those increases would be relatively small for all but the biggest earners.
Seemingly dismissing any attempt to be objective, the PolitiFact journalist then used the words of a Biden campaign official to “prove” the ad’s inaccuracy.
“A Biden campaign official said his point was that the wealthy — not all Americans — would not benefit from his plan,” wrote McCarthy, adding, “The ad’s portrayal of the exchange leaves a different impression.”
So, then, what makes the ad “mostly false?” According to PolitiFact, the ad is untrue because it doesn’t offer enough complex “context” within its 30-second window and gives viewers the wrong “impression” about Biden.
Kelly Sadler, communications director for America First, told The Daily Wire she and her team at the super PAC are drafting legal letters to both PolitiFact and Factcheck.org, “challenging their bogus, politically driven ‘fact checks.'”
“We are going to ask them to revise their ratings based on the actual facts,” she added. “Someone needs to fact check the fact checkers.”
It should be noted Facebook also recently censored another conservative ad from the right-leaning American Principles Project. According to Facebook, the ad, which is critical of the progressive Equality Act, is “missing context and could mislead people.”
The ad suggests the full embrace of the Equality Act, which calls for allowing transgender athletes to participate on the sports teams that correlate with their chosen sexual identities, could ultimately “destroy girls’ sports.”
For what it’s worth, PolitiFact said the American Principles Project ad includes a prediction it can’t effectively fact check.