Welsh Parliament candidate’s advert banned for ‘misinformation’

A Facebook advert posted by a candidate for the Welsh Parliament has been blocked for promoting “misinformation”.

James Wells, a former Brexit Party MEP now standing for Reform UK in Islwyn, was rebuffed after he attempted to post a graphic criticising the use of face masks in school.

The post said: “#NOMASKINCLASS Welsh Government should either publish the evidence or drop it’s [sic] guidance for masks in class.”

A screenshot shared by Wells showed that Facebook rejected the post on the basis that it could be seen as “misinformation”.

It said: “Ads must not promote content similar to information that has been identified as misinformation by leading health organisations.”

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of masks in preventing the spread of coronavirus due to data supporting the idea that they block particles of other respiratory viruses.”

And in December last year, Facebook overhauled its coronavirus misinformation policy to immediately correct false posts with specific details on why they are inaccurate. This policy came after the social media giant was criticised for not doing enough to prevent the spread of fake news.

But writing on Twitter, Wells reached for his tinfoil hat and criticised the ban. He said: “Facebook is stopping us pushing a graphic calling for GOV to publish the evidence on masks in class.

“US tech companies have too much power!”

Elections for the Welsh Parliament will take place on 6 May 2021, alongside the UK local elections and the Scottish Parliament elections.

Policies put forth by Reform UK, who Wells hopes to represent, include opposing the use of vaccination passports and rejecting any further lockdowns. The party also wishes to reform the House of Lords and the BBC and states that the police “need to focus on preventing crime, catching criminals, not woke nonsense”. Hmm.

Labour has represented Iswlyn since 2003 and in 2016 received 45% of the vote.

Seems likes Wells has some catching up to do, then.