This seems a bit strange.
Franciscan University of Steubenville says Facebook wouldn’t allow them to run a particular ad on Facebook due to it violating their prohibition of ads that are “shocking, sensational, and excessively violent.”
The ad in question? It featured a San Damiano crucifix.
Here’s the ad:
The twitter account for Franciscan University of Steubenville wrote, “An ad we placed was rejected by Facebook today for content that is ‘shocking, sensational, and excessively violent.’ We must agree with them.”
The ad was likely deemed “excessively violent” by either an algorithm automatically or a person whose job it is to view and approve/reject a very large number of ads. In other words, it’s unlikely this represents an anti-Christian bias by Facebook.
Last summer, Facebook shut down a large number of major Catholic pages, mostly in Brazil but also some in the United States, without explanation. After online pressure and in-person lobbying at Facebook offices in Brazil, the pages were restored and Facebook apologized to the Brazilian bishops’ conference. Facebook said the pages were accidentally shut down by an anti-spam detection system, though the fact they seemed to target Catholic pages made the explanation seem less plausible.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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