Should Republican congressional candidate Elizabeth Heng win California’s 16th district seat this November, I might suggest she send the social justice brigade in charge of monitoring Facebook videos a big “Thank You.”
The social media giant’s video team blocked one of her ads, but changed their mind once they received backlash.
Elizabeth Heng, who is running against Democratic incumbent Jim Costa, posted an inspiring campaign ad that began with chilling images from the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s while telling about her parents’ survival. The theme of her campaign: “Great things can come from great adversity.”
It seems that the message may have been too powerful for Team Facebook.
Heng’s campaign said Facebook “revoked approval to advertise” the video last week. According to a screenshot posted to Twitter, Facebook said it was not approved because it does not adhere to its advertising policies.“We don’t allow ads that contain shocking, disrespectful or sensational content, including ads that depict violence or threats of violence,” the message from Facebook read.
The ad is compelling, which might explain a bit of the motivation behind Facebook’s decision:
However, it appears that Facebook officials have seen the light, after news of Heng’s blocked video went viral.
Facebook lifted Tuesday its block on Republican Elizabeth Heng’s campaign ad, but the California congressional candidate said the company still owes her a public apology.“I’m deeply disappointed that Facebook would not give me a public apology for targeting a conservative candidate for Congress,” she said in a statement. “It took them 5 days and an immense amount of pressure before they ‘realized’ that they deliberately blocked my history and my story.”…After a deluge of criticism on the right, a Facebook spokesperson said Tuesday that the ad had been cleared for distribution.“Upon further review, it is clear the video contains historical imagery relevant to the candidate’s story,” said Facebook in an email to the Washington Times. “We have since approved the ad and it is now running on Facebook.”
The chances for Heng’s victory in the 16th District are good, which could be another potential motivator for the progressive social media overlords. Fellow California Victor David Hanson explains in Powerline:
In California’s June 2018 primary Heng came within a few thousand votes of beating the well-funded 7-term incumbent congressman Jim Costa in a district that went heavily for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The 16th congressional district is considered a safe blue seat in the usual midterm election surveys. So her stunning near primary win against overwhelming odds should have been a national wake-up story for lots of reasons….Elizabeth Heng is a sort of un-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Like her, she is a minority, female, young and charismatic and a first-time congressional candidate. But after that all comparisons end—and end dramatically in Heng’s favor.Elizabeth grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Fresno, was a product of the Fresno public schools, and then went directly to Stanford where she became student body president. She later earned a MBA from Yale—all the while working on the Hill.
Because of the Facebook stunt, Heng’s Central Valley campaign has now attracted national attention. For those of you who wonder if California can turn itself around, this is a golden opportunity to help us do so: Donate to Heng’s campaign.
Think about how much satisfaction you could get by turning this “safe” blue seat in the bluest state in the union a lovely shade of red, knowing that you helped!
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