Facebook’s attempt to stop Russian interference in the U.S. elections has enraged activists who say illegal immigrants will be banned from buying political ads on the internet platform.
Buying an ad on Facebook now requires a government-issued ID, a U.S. address and a valid Social Security number — which only American citizens and migrants who have been approved for work in the U.S. are generally supposed to have.
Activists said the policy could even snare U.S. citizens, usually older and poorer and often minorities, who don’t have a driver’s license or passport.
But they were most angry about the Social Security requirement, which they said will muzzle illegal immigrants and other noncitizens while leaving their political opponents — Americans who want a crackdown on illegal immigration — free to use Facebook.
“Facebook’s constantly evolving ad-buying policies discriminate against immigrants based on their citizenship status, effectively silencing organizations that are led by already marginalized people,” said Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez, director of membership and organizing at the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Activists said the policy is particularly egregious because Facebook has sold ad space to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the government agency that mans the ports of entry and patrols the border to snare drugs, weapons and people trying to sneak into the U.S. – READ MORE
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