https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/29/17406658/facebook-political-ad-speech-block-russia-troll

This Saturday, Russia scholar Sean Guillory ran into a problem on Facebook. He had just finished an episode of his podcast, in which he interviewed the editor of a new compendium of Donald Trump coverage translated from Russian magazines and newspapers. Titled Russians on Trump, the book is drawn largely from Trump’s pre-presidential activities, and intended more for scholars than news junkies. But because Trump’s Russia ties were being so closely scrutinized, Guillory decided to put some money into promoting the interview on Facebook, hoping it might be a hit.

Facebook didn’t agree. The site immediately sent back a message blocking the ad buy, giving only minimal explanation. Guillory appealed, and he eventually got a more detailed explanation. The combination of Trump and Russia was enough to classify Guillory’s podcast link as political content, which meant a much higher bar for paid promotion. If he wanted to promote his podcast, he’d have to wait.