Facebook Bans Trump Campaign Ad that Denounces Antifa Violence

Facebook removed an ad from the Trump campaign earlier today attacking Antifa, citing its policy on “organized hate.”

The ad, now removed by Facebook, denounced Antifa, the decentralized movement of far-left agitators known for acts of domestic terrorism and political violence.

During the George Floyd riots, Attorney General William Barr described the actions of Antifa as domestic terrorism, and President Trump has also confirmed that he intends to label Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.

The now-deleted Trump ad featured an inverted red-and-black triangle to symbolize the Antifa movement, which uses the red-and-black color scheme in their badges, flags, and propaganda as a form of ideological identification. Red-and-black are the historical colors of the anarcho-communist movement, and red triangles are an Antifa symbol according to products available for purchase.

In the now-deleted ad, the official Team Trump Facebook account said:

Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem. They are DESTROYING our cities and rioting – it’s absolute madness.

It’s important that EVERY American comes together at a time like this to send a united message that we will not stand for their radical actions any longer. We’re calling on YOU to make a public statement and add your name to stand with President Trump against ANTIFA.

Please add your name IMMEDIATELY to stand with your President and his decision to declare ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization.

But Facebook, and far-left organizations that regularly run cover for Antifa, said the red-and-black triangle was a “hate” symbol because it is similar to a symbol used by Nazi Germany in concentration camps.

Facebook apparently bought this argument, even though the Trump team’s post was clearly about Antifa.

“We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate,” a company spokesman told New York Daily News. “Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group’s symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol.”

In a post on Twitter, the Trump team posted an image showing the inverted red-and-black triangle being used by Antifa, in response to a Media Matters post accusing the campaign of using Nazi imagery.

“This is an emoji. It’s also a symbol widely used by Antifa. It was used in an ad about Antifa,” said the Trump team. “It is not in the ADL’s Hate Symbols Database.”

In a comment to the New York Daily News, the Trump team again pointed out the symbol’s links to Antifa.

“The red triangle is an Antifa symbol,” said Trump campaign spokesman Ken Farnaso who linked to the symbol being used in Antifa-branded products.

This is not the first time Facebook has deliberately censored political ads from the Trump team. Ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, Facebook censored a Trump ad about the dangers of mass immigration.

Are you an insider at Google, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, or any other tech company who wants to confidentially reveal wrongdoing or political bias at your company? Reach out to Allum Bokhari at his secure email address allumbokhari@protonmail.com. 

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News.