Facebook Removes, Then Restores Warren Ads Calling for Breakup

(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc.’s social-media site took down some advertisements from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign that call for the company to be broken up, then restored the ads after a Politico report about the decision.

“We removed the ads because they violated our policies against use of our corporate logo,” the company said in a statement. “In the interest of allowing robust debate, we are restoring the ads.”

On March 8, Warren -- who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president ahead of the 2020 election -- outlined a plan to break up Facebook, Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, saying the companies have amassed too much power over consumers.

“Three companies have vast power over our economy and our democracy. Facebook, Amazon, and Google,” the ads said, according to Politico. "We all use them. But in their rise to power, they’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field in their favor.” More than a dozen other ads Warren placed on Facebook about the tech breakup plan weren’t affected, Politico said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack

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