Facebook stops sending staff to assist in political campaigns

Facebook stops sending staff to help political campaigns.

Facebook logo and Donald Trump

Facebook will no longer send employees to work in political campaign offices during elections, the company announced.

The social network used to offer dedicated staff to political campaigns to help them develop their online advertising campaigns.

Donald Trump's digital director for the 2016 presidential election said Facebook's help helped him win.

Facebook said rival Hillary Clinton was offered the same support, but declined.

The social network is the second largest online advertising agent, behind Google.

Facebook says it will focus on its politics portal instead

Google and Twitter also offer specialized advice for political campaigns. They have not indicated that they will end the practice.

Facebook said it would instead offer free advertising advice to all political parties through its website.

However, campaigns will still be able to obtain online support and the company did not rule out meetings with politicians.

According to internal documents viewed by Bloomberg , Donald Trump's campaign spent $ 44m (£33m) on Facebook ads from June to November 2016, compared to $ 28m by Hillary Clinton's campaign.