Dec 2, 2019

General election 2019: Facebook bans Tory ad over BBC footage

Facebook has deleted a Conservative election ad that used BBC News footage because it infringed the corporation's intellectual property rights. The BBC also complained to Facebook, which has now deleted the ad. "In a statement, Facebook said:"We have removed this content following a valid intellectual property claim from the rights holder, the BBC. "Whenever we receive valid IP claims against content on the platform, in advertising or elsewhere, we act in accordance with our policies and take action as required." The Conservative Party said: "All political parties make use of BBC content. We will be asking the BBC if in the interests of fairness they intend to complain about other political parties who use their content." The BBC believes that the ad misled viewers into thinking that its news reporters were supporting the Conservatives. Three clips of BBC reporters or presenters - political editor Laura Kuenssberg, News at Ten presenter Huw Edwards and political correspondent Jonathan Blake - speaking in recent broadcasts about Brexit delays were used in the ad. The clips were edited into a montage of protest footage and video of debate in the House of Commons, all set to dramatic music.

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