Businesses With a Give-Back Mission Caught in Facebook Ad Ban
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956_:
Businesses With a Give-Back Mission Caught in Facebook Ad Ban:
What do a small business that sell socks packaged by homeless youth and a start-up that makes bracelets from life vests once worn by refugees have to do with the spread of misinformation during the presidential election season?
Nothing, thought the entrepreneurs who started them, until Facebook notified them that their ads had been pulled because they fell into a category of "social issues, elections or politics" that were being blocked by the site.
The social media giant announced last week that it was extending a ban imposed on certain ads during the election to prevent the dissemination of false information. The prohibition has ensnared a number of socially driven businesses with no direct connection to partisan politics.
Companies connected to issues like hunger, the environment and immigration, many of which rely heavily on social media to draw customers to their websites, have seen their access abruptly cut off.
"We're just selling socks and trying to do a good thing," said Sam Harper, 27, co-founder of Hippy Feet, a company in Minneapolis that employs homeless youth. "We are not trying to advance any particular agenda around homelessness and unemployment."
[...] "Facebook is thinking of the political campaigns, and we are collateral damage in the process," Mr. Harper said.
The entrepreneurs say they do not begrudge Facebook for barring falsehoods and misleading content. But they contend that it is unfair that their do-good businesses are being lumped in with politically motivated advertisers. With the crucial holiday season fast approaching, some fear that the ban, extended on Nov. 11 for another month, could spell their demise.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.