Facebook blocks video ad that criticizes communism
By victoriab // 2018-08-09
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Censorship at Facebook is going to even greater extremes: A Republican congressional candidate's campaign video has been banned for telling the truth about communism. Elizabeth Heng, a Republican running in the deep blue state of California, shared a video that included information about the unfortunate circumstances which led her family to flee communist Cambodia. The powers that be at Facebook banned her video, claiming it was too "shocking" for their network. Heng was denied the ability to run her campaign video as an advertisement on Facebook. Sources report that Facebook claimed the video violated their rules, declaring it "shocking, disrespectful or sensational" content not fit for their platform. You can view Heng's campaign ad in full here.

Heng hits back at Facebook censorship

Heng called out Facebook's blatant censorship, noting that the company had taken issue with the images depicting what her parents had survived in Cambodia. "Facebook, do you think it's right to censor history?" she asks on Twitter.   In another statement, Heng further admonished Facebook for their actions. "It is unbelievable that Facebook could have such blatant disregard for the history that so many people, including my own parents, have lived through," she stated. "I’m sure it is shocking for some people to hear about this kind of injustice, but this is reality. This is why I wake up every single day with the fight and determination to have a voice and make a difference in my community," Heng continued. “Neither Facebook nor any other company in the tech industry get to silence our stories. We’ve seen it over and over again with Republican candidates and organizations," she added. After immense outrage over Facebook's censorship, a representative from the company reportedly reached out to Breitbart and gave the following statement: "Upon further review, it is clear the video contains historical imagery relevant to the candidate’s story. We have since approved the ad and it is now running on Facebook." It only took the social media giant five days of backlash to change their minds. In response to the change of heart, Heng issued the following statement: "I’m deeply disappointed that Facebook would not give me a public apology for targeting a conservative candidate for Congress. It took them 5 days and an immense amount of pressure before they ‘realized’ that they deliberately blocked my history and my story." Heng went on to tell the National Review that "the only thing" Facebook reps told her about the decision was that “after further review on my ad, it’s clear the images in the video are not being used to shock people but they are relevant to my story, and they apologized for the confusion.” In another statement to National Review, Facebook officials stated that Heng's ad was initially denied because they thought the images of the Cambodian genocide violated the site's rules against content intended to "shock or scare."

Censoring conservatives is the name of the game

Sometimes, history is shocking, and genocide is certainly both shocking and scary. But you can't erase history just because it makes you uncomfortable or challenges your ideas. Heng is not the first conservative to face blockade by way of social media. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, from Tennessee, faced similar issues last October when Twitter blocked her campaign ad. Blackburn went on to take the issue to Congress, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Now, the censorship is extending to the independent media as well. Facebook, Google, Apple and multiple other networks have banned Infowars and founder Alex Jones from their platforms, declaring his brand of activism is guilty of "hate speech." The Left is going into full tyranny mode and anyone who opposes their beliefs could be the next target. You can learn more about censorship on social media and across our society at Censorship.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NationalReview.com  
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