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* KMOV TV followed up on my Monday blog post about a Facebook ad which claimed Sen. Andy Manar voted for the ComEd nuclear bailout which, the ad claimed, would cause layoffs in his district…
An Illinois state senator says Facebook refused to take down a recent political ad despite his claims it contained false information.
“There was little if anything I could do about it,’ said Andy Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill.
Manar says the ad, from the Christian County Republican Party, ran for several weeks on Facebook stating Manar had voted for a bailout of nuclear power plants. Manar had voted on the bill, but voted no.
“We did get though to Facebook and I’m going to paraphrase their response,” he said. “It’s not their job to match votes of public officials up to news stories that are promoted on their platform.” […]
“What’s most alarming is there’s a financial incentive for Facebook to allow lies, blatant lies, about the record of public officials to be told because the more provocative the lie, the more money they make on advertising,” he said.
Manar ran into more problems when Facebook rejected his response ad because it had violated Facebook’s policy of using another ad’s content.
* So did the Decatur Herald & Review…
A Republican challenger for state Sen. Andy Manar’s seat said he took down a factually incorrect ad on Facebook, but it’s unclear whether the ad is still reaching local voters when they log on to the social media site.
“I think it was up there for a few days … when I found out that it was not accurate, I had it taken down,” said Seth McMillan, a Republican who announced he is running against Manar and chairman of the Christian County GOP. […]
Manar said he saw the ad still appearing on his personal Facebook account as recently as last week, after McMillan said the ad had been removed.
When McMillan explained the process of how his organization removed the ad, he described what Facebook calls a “boosted post.” This type of advertising allows the operator of a public page, like the Christian County Republicans, to pay Facebook to show the post on more people’s news feeds. […]
But McMillan said he was not sure if his organization also paid for another type of Facebook ad that’s meant to show up on the sides of the social media site, and if so, whether it had been deleted.
* Meanwhile…
Fritz Kaegi has a mysterious problem: He’s running for Cook County assessor against a powerful politician, but someone has hijacked his online identity. […]
He’s just filed a legal action against GoDaddy, Facebook, Twitter, Crowdpac and others because someone created fake online web accounts in his name to raise campaign cash and connect with supporters. […]
The sham websites appeared shortly after Fritz announced he would challenge incumbent Assessor Joe Berrios, chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.
A recent fake tweet mentions “orgies,” and a press release dated Aug. 29 says Kaegi was out talking about his campaign “with a deadly hurricane raging in Texas.”
“It’s creepy,” says Kaegi’s wife, Rebecca. “My children’s names and faces are on the fictional website.”
The Joe Berrios campaign denies involvement.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:08 am
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Previous Post: Statehouse women fight back against sexual harassment
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Getting your news from Facebook is like getting your drinking water from a sewer.
Can’t fix it. Just have to steer folks with the right information.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:14 am
Why is KMOV reporting Manar “claims” the ad contained false information? It was indisputably false — do your job and report it that way, please.
If mainstream journalists are going are going to equivocate on the facts, fake news and “alternative facts” will fill the vacuum.
Comment by Roman Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:20 am
Christian County Republicans’ Facebook page also has a Photoshopped picture of Hillary Clinton shaking hands with Osama Bin Laden. They truly are the lowest of the low.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:21 am
I can’t wait to watch Manar micromanage his campaign and go to war over every little thing. He did it in the Bourne-Mathis race and he’ll do it in this one. The popcorn is ready.
Comment by Saputo's Back Room Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:23 am
There’s a financial incentive for every kind of media to allow lies. That’s capitalism.
Comment by NoGifts Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:37 am
Successfully prosecuting these imposters isn’t easy-
http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2017/10/man_arrested_for_creating_fake.html
And, the Peoria Twitter Twit-
https://tinyurl.com/ydhpboh4
Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:37 am
Political “dirty trickster” Dick Tuck would have had a field day in this era.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tuck
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:39 am
The tide is hopefully turning against FB. Snapchat is taking greater share - FB dropping. Great news. The Trojan Horse is stumbling.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 11:53 am
Anonymous - Snapchat will be screening communication for lies? That’s unlikely. The tide may be turning for FB but the tide is not turning for lies as far as I can see.
Comment by NoGifts Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 12:16 pm
Christian County GOP and Chairman, you knew it was a lie when you posted it. You now lie about taking it down. Are we to believe that people who want our votes are not capable of telling the truth? That folks is no way to run an election, or to win one.
Comment by Retired Educator Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 3:35 pm
to the Da Big Bad Wolf: I think the Hillary Clinton shaking hands with Osama Bin Laden created photo was actually developed by Russian agents, see https://thinkprogress.org/russia-facebook-clinton-campaign-d6d76b2a2e82/ My conclusion is that Christian County Republicans might be trolls for Putin.
Comment by Rod Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 3:46 pm
South Park did their take on this issue last week.
Comment by G'Kar Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 4:27 pm
Rod, it is from a Freaking News photoshop contest in 2007. There also was a Photoshop from the Freaking News of Condoleezza Rice shaking hands with Bin Landen as well. I doubt this has anything to do with Russia. It has everything to do with the corruptness of the Christian County Republicans.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Wednesday, Oct 18, 17 @ 4:31 pm