...says political comedian Matt Forde

Comedian Matt Forde has accused Facebook of censorship after it banned the word Brexit from an advert.

The comic wanted to take out ads on the social media platform for his political stand-up show Brexit Through The Gift Shop.

But he soon found out that they breached transparency rules designed to combat fake news, with Facebook telling him: 'There’s no way around this other than not using the word Brexit'

Forde says the ban impinges on his freedom of expression. He told The Sun: ‘I never thought that in 2019 I’d have my freedom of speech restricted. 

‘I’m flattered that they think I’m a greater threat to their users than the collapse of global democracy.

‘Obviously what I forgot to do was offer Facebook the personal data of my friends and family.

‘I realise my mistake and next time I want to run an ad, I’ll make sure that I bring skips full of secure data stolen from the public, plus a guarantee to help the rise of the far right across Britain and America.’

Forde actually fell foul of rules introduced in an attempt to clean up Facebook following Russian attempts to interfere in elections using social media.

Anyone buying ads about political issues must now confirm their identity – and Facebook said Forde only had to complete an online form to do this.

A spokesman said: ‘We have not banned ads containing the word Brexit.

‘Anyone who wishes to run political ads can do so if they complete the authorisation process, and we welcome Matt to try this himself at facebook.com/id.'

Published: 5 Feb 2019