Facebook’s automated systems to monitor political advertisers are blocking the wrong ads

Ads with words like 'Bush' and 'Clinton' are being taken down because they have been tagged as political ads from non-verified advertisers. Since the advent of the ad and data-related scandals plaguing Facebook — including the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the emergence of evidence that Russia used the app to interfere in 2016 elections — the company has made sizable efforts to curb malicious content and misinformation this year. As part of its work in this area, the company rolled out new political ad policies in May, mandating that all political advertisers must be verified on the platform and all political ads must list the person or organization that purchased the ad. To stop nefarious characters from placing politically charged ads on the platform, Facebook uses artificial intelligence systems to help identify political and issue-based ads placed by individuals and organizations that have not been verified or fail to included “paid for” information. The systems put in place are designed to make the platform more transparent and keep content safe, but some ads are getting caught in the crosshairs and are being taken down because they have mistakenly been categorized as political or issue-based ads. Multiple advertisers — including a lawn-mowing company, a hair waxing salon and Walmart — had ads taken down because they contained the word “Bush,” which Facebook’s automated systems associated with the political leaders President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush, according to a report from Bloomberg. In all, the Bloomberg story listed seven different advertisers whose ads were taken down.