Facebook censored ‘I Am a Christian’ ad because it ‘directly addresses’ users on religion
Facebook has censored a fundraising post for the new Christian movie project, I Am a Christian, based on the life of Meriam Ibrahim, because the social media company now claims there are rejecting that ads which directly address their users on topics like religion.
“Your ad wasn’t approved because it doesn’t follow our language policies,” ‘Frank ‘of the Facebook Ads Team wrote back to the producers when they pressed for more details on the rejection. “We’ve found that people dislike ads that directly address them or their personal characteristics such as religion.”
“Ads should not single out individuals or degrade people. We don’t accept language like ‘Are you fat?’ ‘Wanna join me?’ and the like. Instead, text must present realistic and accurate information in a neutral or positive way and should not have any direct attribution to people,” Frank wrote.
Producers of the forthcoming independent film I Am A Christian are attempting to raise $500,000 in production costs online. The film, set to star Stacey Dash(Clueless) and Kevin Sorbo(God’s Not Dead) will focus on Ibrahim struggles in Sudan, where she was arrested while pregnant, beaten and sentence to death for her conversion to Christianity.
Their campaign has raised just over $2,000 so far on indiegogo.com, but Facebook rejected their ad, making headlines.
“Are you a Christian? We challenge you to change your profile picture to this ‘I Am A Christian’ photo for one week! Change your picture now, and challenge your friends to do the same. Stand up and declare Yes, I Am A Christian!!!,” the producers wrote in a message beside their ad graphic.
“Your ad wasn’t approved because it doesn’t follow Facebook’s Advertising Guidelines for language that is profane, vulgar, threatening or generates high negative feedback,” Facebook wrote to producers of the film. “Ads can’t use language that insults, harasses or demeans people, or addresses their age, gender, name, race, physical condition or sexual preference.”
“I was shocked,” one of the film’s producers said in a statement provided to The Daily Caller. “I certainly didn’t see anything profane, vulgar, or threatening in our ad. I gave Facebook the benefit of the doubt; I assumed that this was a mistake on their part and that I had received an automatic reply that didn’t fit this situation.”
There is no word yet on the ad returning to Facebook.
