London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 02, 2025

Facebook restores banned ad promoting renters rights after tweet goes viral

Facebook restores banned ad promoting renters rights after tweet goes viral

Ronan Burtenshaw’s publication was labelled as discriminatory and blocked from being promoted

Facebook will restore a banned advert promoting an opinion piece calling for renters rights, after the company’s automated systems blocked the post for “discrimination”. But critics say the error will be repeated unless Facebook acts to protect campaigners on its platform.

On Monday Ronan Burtenshaw, the editor of Tribune Magazine, received a message from Facebook saying one of his publication’s posts had been blocked from being promoted on the site. The story, headlined The Rent is Too Damn High, calls for “a struggle of renters against the rentiers” and concludes that solving the housing crisis requires a massive programme of council house creation.

Burtenshaw found it had been banned from being shared as a promoted post because the “ad doesn’t comply with our policy on discriminatory practices”. His first conclusion was that the company was trying to protect landlords from discrimination.


After Burtenshaw’s tweet went viral and the Guardian queried its removal, Facebook changed course and restored the ad. “The ad placed by the Tribune was rejected in error by our systems but is now active and will appear in the ad library shortly,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “While our review is largely automated, we rely on our teams to build and train these systems, and in some cases to manually review ads. Sometimes both machines and humans make mistakes and an ad may be rejected in error, but we endeavour to restore them as soon as possible.”

But Tribune’s post isn’t the only call for better housing policy to have been blocked from the social network. Others, including Martin Lennon, a Labour councillor , have experienced the same issue. His campaigns to build more council housing in Scotland were also blocked for discriminatory practices.

The problem seems to lie with Facebook’s attempts to prevent discrimination in adverts for rentals. In 2019 the company was charged with violating the US Fair Housing Act. It was alleged that its targeted advertising allowed landlords to discriminate on the basis of race, colour, national origin, religion, familial status, sex and disability.

As a result, Burtenshaw says, Facebook has gone too far in the opposite direction. “Facebook’s policies have accidentally banned campaigning for tenant’s rights on Facebook. It seems like anything that’s targeted by age or region that’s related to housing is something that they’re flagging up – but the effect of it is that if we do a piece on tenant organising, that gets flagged and can’t be advertised.

“Given that Facebook’s whole algorithm is written to massively advantage people who put money into the system, it means you can’t get your message across.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
Russian Shadow Payments via Cryptocurrency Reach $9 Billion
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
×