FACEBOOK HAS REMOVED election advertisements from the Renua Ireland page after they didn’t display a “paid for by” disclaimer. 

One of these ads mentions an increasing population and promises to deliver “more prison places”, and another promises to restore the green passport over as an “important symbol of our independent policy direction within the EU”. 

The ads were removed for not adhering to appropriate labelling issues, rather than the content or claims in the advertisement.

A spokesperson for Facebook saidin a statement to TheJournal.ie: “The adverts run by the Renua Ireland Page were not correctly labelled as political ads and are no longer running on our platform.”

In Ireland, anyone who wants to run a political ad on our platforms must go through a verification process and ads about politics, elections and social issues must carry a ‘Paid for by’ disclaimer so people can see who has paid for them.

Liz Carolan, an online security expert, expressed concern at Facebook’s ability to detect political adverts not adhering to its rules.

The ad will remain in the Ad Library for seven years, carrying a note that says “This ad was taken down because it goes against Facebook Advertising Policies”.

Renua will be contacted to clarify Facebook’s Advertising Policies regarding ads related to politics, elections and social issues.