No satisfactory explanation offered for censorship
London, UK – 27 April 2020
An advert to celebrate the first-ever Lesbian Visibility Week has been banned by Facebook with no satisfactory explanation.
The advert went live on Thursday 23 April to highlight Lesbian Visibility Week and the Peter Tatchell Foundation weekly newsletter, which was guest edited by lesbian Linda Riley, publisher of DIVA magazine and the driving force behind the inaugural Lesbian Visibility Week.
“Facebook claims that it banned the advert because it ‘mentions politicians, topics that could influence the outcome of an election, or existing or proposed legislation.’ It did none of these things. We are angry that our attempt to support the lesbian community has been sabotaged. It highlights why Lesbian Visibility Week is needed. None of our other human rights adverts have been blocked,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
See the wording of advert below.
“The advert had been initially approved and had been running for 48 hours when Facebook blocked it, despite still charging the Peter Tatchell Foundation, a small human rights charity, £35.89 for the first two days,” added Mr Tatchell.
“The advert was innocuous and Facebook has now categorised it alongside Russian troll factories that sought to influence the Brexit vote and US presidential elections.”
“Lesbian Visibility Week does not target politicians or issues that could influence election outcomes. It is non-party political and is a fantastic human rights initiative. I am bemused and appalled that Facebook is censoring it.”
Notes to editors:
This is the full wording of the banned Facebook advert
Learn about lesbians who were cheered as they found a novel way to marry during the lockdown. This week’s #PTFweekly celebrates #LesbianVisibilityWeek and is guest edited by Linda Riley of DIVA Magazine. READ http://ow.ly/ePvd50zkBuW
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