There’s nothing profane, obscene or derogatory in the biographical campaign ad run by GOP House candidate Elizabeth Heng, but Facebook blocked it anyway over scenes of the Cambodian genocide, which her parents survived.
That was Friday, and a Heng spokeswoman said Monday that Facebook had yet to lift the ban, despite the rising tide of indignation on the right.
Ms. Heng attributed Facebook’s decision to revoke the ad, which was posted May 30, on anti-GOP bias, saying, “We’ve seen it over and over again with Republican candidates and organizations.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also a California Republican, weighed in Monday by calling on the social media giant to #StopTheBias, saying, “Her family survived the Communist genocide in Cambodia and came to America. Now Facebook is blocking her story.”
Ms. Heng turned in a surprisingly strong showing in California’s top-two primary on June 5, taking 47 percent of the vote behind the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Jim Costa, who has represented the Central Valley district for seven terms.
Facebook informed the Heng campaign that the ad was removed because it violated the company’s advertising policies.
“We don’t allow ads that contain shocking, disrespectful or sensational content, including ads that depict violence or threats of violence,” the Facebook statement said.
The four-minute video included black-and-white photographs of rows of skulls and the bodies of Cambodians killed by the Khmer Rouge, the communist revolutionary movement that took power in 1975 and left an estimated 2 million dead from execution, starvation and disease.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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