Facebook pulled Manitoba political ads because union failed to disclose it paid for them

Union-sponsored Facebook ads targeting the Progressive Conservative's policies on liquor sales were pulled from the tech giant's platform last month for failing to disclose who was bankrolling the campaign. 

In late June, a series of ads launched by the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU) began targeting Manitobans on the social media platform. But by mid-July, the "Keep Liquor Public" Facebook campaign had been taken down because the ads violated newly imposed advertising policies, according to company's searchable ad library.

The tech giant rolled out a series of new safeguards in June to prevent anonymous and malicious actors from attempting to disrupt or influence the democratic processes in countries across the world. Bill C-76, adopted late last year by the federal government, introduced new rules for those who want to run online ads during future campaigns.

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Among its new rules, Facebook requires political parties or interest groups ⁠— such as unions ⁠— to disclose who authorized and paid for all advertisements related to politics, elections or key social issues deemed to be divisive in nature.

In practice, this new provision means that any political ad a Facebook user sees on their timeline must now contain a "paid by" disclaimer that has been verified and authorized by the platform.

MGEU was unaware of issue

Citing a mandate letter sent to Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries directing the Crown Corporation to work more closely with the private sector for retail and distribution opportunities, the MGEU ⁠— which represents liquor store employees ⁠—  relaunched the "Keep Liquor Public" campaign, which included radio, petitions and targeted online advertising on June 7.

The campaign was originally launched in 2015.

MGEU Director Sheila Gordon says that when they were made aware of the issue, they contacted Facebook to get clarification on the new guidelines.

"As is the case with all MGEU issue-based campaigns, out of an abundance of caution, we remove their digital footprint during any election campaign to be in compliance with the Election Financing Act. This is why we disabled both the KLP webpage and Facebook page until the election has concluded," said Gordon.

The MGEU is not registered as a third party with Elections Manitoba, meaning that unless the union incurs election communication expenses of $2,500 or more, their advertising activities are not governed by the Election Financing Act.