Facebook pulls controversial Trump immigrant ad for being ‘sensational’

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

• After Fox News and NBC pulled a controversial
  advertisement from President Trump that was widely condemned as
  racist, Facebook has decided to block the ad from paid
  distribution.
• The ad can still be posted on the social network, but
  not through Facebook’s political ads platform.
• The ad claims the migrant caravan headed toward the
  United States consists of “dangerous illegal
  criminals.”

After
Fox News and NBC pulled a controversial advertisement from
President Trump that was widely condemned as racist, Facebook has
decided to block the ad from paid distribution. 

The ad, which claims the migrant caravan headed toward the United
States consists of “dangerous illegal criminals,” can still be
posted on Facebook, but not through the social network’s paid
advertisement distribution system,
Bloomberg reports. 

Fox News pulled the ad on Sunday, and NBC and Facebook quickly
followed suit on Monday. 

“This ad violates Facebook’s advertising policy against
sensational content, so we are rejecting it,” a Facebook
spokesperson said to Bloomberg in a statement. “While the video
is allowed to be posted on Facebook, it cannot receive paid
distribution.”

Facebook
defines sensational content as “images that may shock or
scare viewers, images that are scary, gory or sensational,” and
“Ads depicting violence or threats of violence.” 

Fox News provided the following statement to Business
Insider regarding its decision: “Upon further review, Fox News
pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News
Channel or Fox Business Network.”

“After further review we recognize the insensitive nature
of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our
properties as soon as possible,” an NBC spokesman told Business
Insider after the ad was aired on the network. 

CNN posted a statement on Twitter after deciding not to run
the ad: “CNN has made it abundantly clear in its editorial
coverage that this ad is racist,” the statement said. “When
presented with an opportunity to be paid to take a version of
this ad, we declined. Those are the facts.”