Facebook is censoring pro-life ads about two premature babies ahead of the midterm elections, a prominent pro-life group reported this week.
Susan B. Anthony List said the social media giant blocked two of its election ads that expose politicians who support late-term abortions.
The ads tell the stories of Charlotte Ryun and Micah Pickering who were born at 24 and 22 weeks, respectively. Both now are thriving children. In the ads, their parents speak about the value of their children’s lives and the tragedy of laws that allow unborn babies at those same stages of pregnancy to be aborted for any reason.
“For somebody to say that a baby at 20 weeks doesn’t have the right to live, I want to tell them to come and see Micah,” his mother says in one ad.
Initially, Facebook allowed the ad to run. SBA List said it ran for 13 days before Facebook blocked it without explanation. The ad specifically targets Democrat Fred Hubbell who is running for Iowa governor and supports late-term abortions. He is challenging pro-life Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The social media site told the pro-life group: “We have reviewed your ad more closely and have determined it doesn’t comply with our Advertising Policies. This ad will not be active any longer until you edit it to comply with policy.” However, the email does not explain what policies it violated.
Our ad telling Micah’s story was allowed to run on Facebook for THIRTEEN days until Facebook’s censors decided to shut the ad down… with NO explanation – see the email we received from them: pic.twitter.com/fusKCKCdu5
— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) October 24, 2018
The second ad, which encourages voters to vote pro-life in November, tells the story of Charlotte Ryun.
“My daughter Charlotte was born at 24 weeks. For those that are advocating late-term abortions, look at my daughter,” Charlotte’s father Ned says in the ad.
But Facebook completely refused to run the ad, claiming it was too “graphic.” The ad shows images of Charlotte’s ultrasound and her in the hospital not long after she was born. It also shows the ultrasound of an unborn baby moving around in the womb.
Here’s the email from Facebook claiming the photo of Charlotte used in the ad is too “sensational or graphic” pic.twitter.com/wOI8DJXbLe
— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) October 24, 2018
P.S. Here’s before & after pics of the children whose stories you are shutting down. Don’t they have every right to tell their story?
Watch the ads here:
Micah: https://t.co/kawGswLlKT
Charlotte: https://t.co/Kn9GEa51Qy#AZSen #IAGov #IVoteProLife✅ pic.twitter.com/yPPcurgGzJ— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) October 24, 2018
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“Why is Facebook so intent on disenfranchising Charlotte & Micah?” the pro-life group responded this week. “They deserve to be allowed to tell their stories. But Facebook is shutting down our ads that share how they survived premature births.”
Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have done this sort of thing before. Earlier this month, makers of the “Gosnell” film said Facebook also censored their ads.
Last year, Twitter rejected an ad from pro-life Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn because she mentioned Planned Parenthood’s sales of aborted baby body parts. Twitter later reversed its decision after LifeNews and other news outlets reported about the matter.
Live Action, the youth-centered pro-life organization known for its undercover investigations of Planned Parenthood, said Twitter has been censoring its ads repeatedly. Founder Lila Rose said the social media site blocked their ability to advertise and told them to change information on their websites if they want to start advertising again.
In 2015, Facebook also refused to allow Live Action News to advertise one of its stories because “the image or video thumbnail may shock or evoke a negative response from viewers.” The image was of baby Eli Thompson who was born without a nose.
Facebook became a subject of national controversy in 2016 after some of its workers admitted that they suppressed conservative news stories in favor of liberal ones. LifeNews.com, which is the leading pro-life news website on the Internet and the only one specifically devoted to pro-life issues, has long believed that Facebook has been suppressing its traffic.
