WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, American Principles Project and its affiliated American Principles Project PAC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Facebook, Inc. The complaint alleges that Facebook’s censorship of an APP PAC ad focusing on Gary Peters’ (D-Mich.) and Joe Biden’s support for legislation undermining women’s sports amounted to a roughly $47,000 in-kind contribution to the Democrats’ campaigns.
On Tuesday, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Big Tech and elections, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over his company’s censorship of APP PAC’s ad.
“Facebook censored several APP PAC ads this election cycle. The basis for this FEC complaint focuses on the first, which attacked Gary Peters and Joe Biden for their support for the Equality Act, which would destroy women’s sports if it were passed into law,” Terry Schilling, executive director of American Principles Project, said.
“By censoring this ad on such a flimsy basis, and by allowing ads in favor of Democrats to run unfettered on its platform, Facebook materially contributed to the campaigns of Peters and Biden. Our complaint alleges that this in-kind contribution amounted to nearly $50,000 — a clear violation of federal campaign finance law.
“We urge the FEC to consider APP PAC’s complaint and launch an investigation as soon as possible,” he added.
In October, APP urged the Senate to confirm President Trump’s FEC appointees to ensure a quorum so the agency could adjudicate potential violations of campaign finance law. The FEC has been unable to function for the majority of 2020.