Facebook refused to put up an ad criticizing its founder Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, U.S. media reported.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, progressive mobile carrier CREDO Mobile requested Facebook to carry an ad critical of Zuckerberg for his advocacy of constructing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that may harm the neighborhood environment.

Facebook turned down the company’s request, saying the ad may confuse Facebook users to regard it as an actual message of the CEO.

“Users may click on the ad thinking it is a message from Mark or from Facebook, not understanding that they are actually in an advertisement seeking to take advantage of Mark’s image,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

CREDO, however, said that people on Facebook who made Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire need to know that he is using his fortune to financially support an anti-environment project.

“If Facebook is giving up ad revenue in order to protect the CEO from public scrutiny of his private political giving, then that’s something that both users, employees and shareholders absolutely need to know,” said CREDO’s political director Becky Bond.

CREDO slammed Zuckerberg in late April for his new advocacy group FWD.us to fund Senator Lindsay Graham’s TV ad which supports the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline project.

By Park Sui, Intern reporter
(suipark@heraldcorp.com)