--- title: Facebook Removed Sen. Warren's Ads Calling for its Breakup description: Facebook said it reinstated Elizabeth Warren's ads calling for its breakup after initially taking them down. canonical: https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-12T00:54:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:24:54.386Z article:section: Politics og:title: Facebook Removed Elizabeth Warren's Ads Calling for the Breakup of Facebook og:description: The company said it had taken down the ads, but that it was restoring them og:url: https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09722e74d4e0d363/6989468a4ee2622742314269/elizabeth-warren-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5709 og:image:height: 3211 og:image:alt: Elizabeth Warren Holds Organizing Event In NYC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Facebook Removed Elizabeth Warren's Ads Calling for the Breakup of Facebook twitter:description: The company said it had taken down the ads, but that it was restoring them twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09722e74d4e0d363/6989468a4ee2622742314269/elizabeth-warren-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Facebook Removed Elizabeth Warren's Ads Calling for the Breakup of Facebook > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=23e4337c-03b8-4a09-b561-27e5b7f253ad&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senator Elizabeth Warren Discusses the Breakup of Big Tech Companies at SXSW [Watch (HLS stream): Senator Elizabeth Warren Discusses the Breakup of Big Tech Companies at SXSW](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AwIJkF5d.m3u8) (4:31)  _Published 2019-03-11. She spoke with TIME's Anand Giridharadas in Austin._ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 12, 2019 12:54 AM UTC She spoke with TIME's Anand Giridharadas in Austin. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 12, 2019 12:54 AM UTC Facebook removed ads from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign that called for the breakup of Facebook and other tech companies — but said it was reinstating them after a [report from Politico](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/11/facebook-removes-elizabeth-warren-ads-1216757) highlighted that the ads were taken down. Warren’s ads picked up the message from the senator’s [recently released plan](http://time.com/5548262/elizabeth-warren-antitrust-amazon-facebook-google/) to target the companies that hold power in Silicon Valley. The plan calls for passing laws that would prevent companies from offering and participating in the same marketplace, and appointing regulators who would reverse “illegal and anti-competitive tech mergers.” “Three companies have vast power over our economy and our democracy. Facebook, Amazon and Google,” the ads read, according to [Politico](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/11/facebook-removes-elizabeth-warren-ads-1216757). “We all use them. But in their rise to power, they’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit and tilted the playing field in their favor.” Politico [reports](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/11/facebook-removes-elizabeth-warren-ads-1216757) that a message appeared on three ads that said, “This ad was taken down because it goes against Facebook’s advertising policies.” Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to Politico, the company said it had taken down the ads, but that it was restoring them. “We removed the ads because they violated our policies against use of our corporate logo,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “In the interest of allowing robust debate, we are restoring the ads.” ## Transcript [00:00] Yesterday you made a pretty big announcement, about [00:02] tech. And then like the gangster you are, [00:06] you flew down to a tech conference. [ LAUGH ] [00:10] To say it to their face. Ain't afraid of no one. Yeah, so [00:12] here's what I want you to do. And if we have house lights, [00:15] that'd be great. If you work now, or have ever worked, or [00:17] one day aspire to work for Google, Facebook, or Amazon, [00:20] please stand up. And if we can get some house lights. Do [00:22] we have some folks? We have some. [ INAUDIBLE ] Yeah, [00:26] [ LAUGH ] there we go, all right. So [00:30] yesterday, Senator, you called for a potential break up of [00:34] those three companies, and- Actually, I called for a break [00:36] up, uh- huh. A break up, I like it. [ LAUGH ] And [00:41] before that, you've called for things, and by the way, sorry. [00:43] Remain standing, I know this is a little tedious but I want [00:45] you to do it. This is important, remain standing if you work [00:48] or wanna work or have worked at those companies. You've [00:51] also called for things that would affect those companies- [00:52] Wait a minute, while a drone comes around and takes their [00:54] pictures. Right, exactly, exactly. [ LAUGH ] But they made [00:56] the drone, so it's kinda their fault. That's right, and your [00:58] information will all be posted, and okay, good. [ LAUGH ] [01:01] You've also called for accountable cataclysm that will [01:03] change the board structure for those companies and many [01:05] others. You've called for restrictions on the ability of [01:07] companies like that to lobby which they do out the wazoo. [01:11] Looking at these people who work at these companies, can [01:12] you explain to them why you wanna break up the place [01:15] they work. Yeah, cuz it'll be a lot more fun to work there. [01:19] Look, it's a pretty straight forward idea that [01:24] We have companies now like Amazon. We'll use that as [01:27] the example, that have a platform. Cool, right? I go and buy [01:32] a coffeemaker on Amazon, people use it all the time. But [01:36] Amazon does something besides provide the platform or [01:39] the marketplace. They also suck out an incredible amount [01:42] of information About every buyer and every seller, [01:47] and then make the decision to go store [01:51] a competing coffee making selling outfit, [01:56] and drive out a business, everybody else who was in that [02:00] space. And let's just say, drive out a business partly [02:03] because they get this incredible advantage. From having [02:06] the information of the platform. And also because they have [02:09] the incredible ability to manipulate the platform. That is, put [02:14] themselves right at the top of page one and put that [02:18] competitor back on page 16, where nobody ever [02:22] goes. So. My view on this is, it's [02:26] a little like baseball. You can be an umpire, a platform, [02:31] or you can own teams. That's fine. But you can't [02:35] be an umpire and own one of the teams that's in the game. [02:40] So the principle here is break those apart And you can [02:44] work for the platform part, you can work for one of the [02:47] teams, that's a lot of fun, but if you work for one of the [02:49] teams, you compete like every other team in America. [02:53] Because the whole idea behind this is actually for the [02:57] people in this room, it's for people who are tack [03:00] entrepreneurs, it's for people who have Small businesses [03:03] we want to grow them into big businesses who have [03:05] medium size businesses who want to grow them, who are [03:09] entrepreneurs and want to try that new idea. It says we [03:13] want to keep that marketplace competitive. Not let a giant, [03:17] who has an incredible information advantage and a [03:20] manipulative advantage, be able to snuff you out. I'm [03:25] deeply concerned right now that the space around [03:29] companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google [03:34] is now referred to by venture capitalists as the kill zone. [03:38] Because if you try to step a small business into that one [03:43] of two things happens. It either gets bought up when it [03:46] shows its worth. And before it can actually grow into [03:50] something that's really strong and valuable, or it just gets [03:53] wiped out. That sounded actually- And we are watching, [03:55] that was another one was just struck. That was just [03:57] baseless fainting actually. [ LAUGH ] That's right. But think [04:00] about it, venture capital in this area over the last [04:04] half- dozen years or so has dropped by about 20 % [04:08] Because that opportunity to do what you do best, to [04:12] come up with a great idea, to work your heart out to make it [04:15] happen. To be able to compete on a level playing field is [04:19] taking away from these platform giants. So my view is [04:24] break those things apart and we will have a much more [04:26] competitive robust market in America, that's how capitalism [04:30] should work. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/"},"headline":"Facebook Removed Elizabeth Warren's Ads Calling for the Breakup of Facebook","datePublished":"2019-03-12T00:54:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:24:54.386Z","description":"The company said it had taken down the ads, but that it was restoring them","url":"https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/","keywords":["facebook","Tech","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09722e74d4e0d363/6989468a4ee2622742314269/elizabeth-warren-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09722e74d4e0d363/6989468a4ee2622742314269/elizabeth-warren-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Elizabeth Warren Holds Organizing Event In NYC","caption":"Elizabeth Warren Holds Organizing Event In NYC","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/facebook/","name":"facebook"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/","name":"Facebook Removed Elizabeth Warren's Ads Calling for the Breakup of Facebook"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Senator Elizabeth Warren Discusses the Breakup of Big Tech Companies at SXSW","description":"She spoke with TIME's Anand Giridharadas in Austin.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/AwIJkF5d/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-03-11T18:47:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AwIJkF5d.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/","duration":"PT4M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5549467/elizabeth-warren-facebook-breakup-ads/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```