What to do about Facebook Hate Ads?

August 29, 2012 10:11 AM

How can I report or block an offensive sponsored post on Facebook?

I just logged into Facebook and, in the "sponsored post" sidebar, an ad inviting me to like the hate group VDare popped up. I immediately scrolled down and checked out Facebook's community standards, which encourages people to report inappropriate content, but doesn't actually provide instructions on how to do so. So, my questions are, is there a way to make sure I don't see the ad again, and how can I best let Facebook know that I am really unhappy about this development?

posted by dortmunder to technology (6 answers total)

...is there a way to make sure I don't see the ad again...

Which browser are you using? There's ad-blocking plugins for most of them, but it'll help to know which one is yours. I wouldn't expect Facebook will do anything about it as VDare is paying them money and you're not.
posted by griphus at 10:13 AM on August 29, 2012

There should be a small X visible on the right upper corner of the ad space when you move your mouse/interface pointer over spot that you can click to fill out a report (as in, click spam/report, click offense/hate or whatever the options are).
posted by tilde at 10:15 AM on August 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Griphus,

It's IE8, and not by choice. I'm on my work computer.
posted by dortmunder at 10:18 AM on August 29, 2012

You can go to VDARE's facebook page and report it. (There should be a little gear image in the upper right corner somewhere with a dropdown menu.)
posted by phunniemee at 10:19 AM on August 29, 2012

Jesus wept. If you can take a screenshot, send it to [e-mail]; it's the kind of thing they might do a piece on. I'd also message the Southern Poverty Law Center on Facebook.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:13 AM on August 29, 2012

To avoid seeing it: If your work computer allows USB keys, use a portable edition of Firefox with an adblocker.
posted by chazlarson at 5:25 PM on August 29, 2012