Author says Twitter banned ad with conservative viewpoint

A Christian book author is claiming that Twitter banned an ad featuring his book about God's design for marriage.

Former pastor Craig Stellpflug of Washington State tried to promote his book, "One Man One Woman: God's Original Design for Marriage," in a paid Twitter ad. He claims the social media giant did not approve his tweet because it determined his content to be "hateful."

"They started promoting it. They took my money," Stellpflug told The Christian Post. "Then, I get [an] email that [the] tweet was not approved and that it was determined to be hate."

"'One Man One Woman' discloses God's original design and purpose for sex and marriage," Stellpflug wrote on his website. WestBow Press published the book in June. Stellpflug teaches Bible study and Sunday school classes at Sunrise Baptist Church in Custer, Washington.

"Twitter is free to run its business according to its liberal values that support the redefinition of marriage, but shouldn't bakers, florists and photographers who support the historic understanding of marriage be free to run their businesses as well?" Ryan T. Anderson, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of "Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom," told LifeZette.

"Twitter just condemned my book as 'hate'!" Stellpflug tweeted in response to the situation this month. Twitter labeled the ad under "hate speech" and consequently did not approved the tweet, according to Stellpflug.

Twitter has an ad policy: It says it bans hate content, sensitive topics and violence -- including, apparently, the belief in traditional marriage.

The policy applies to "hate speech or advocacy against an individual, organization or protected group based on race, ethnicity, national origin, color, religion, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status or other protected status."

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

Stellpflug's book on marriage takes an "honest look at how the ever-changing society we live in has wandered so far from an unchanging God and His will," according to Stellpflug's blog.

"This whole book started as bits and pieces of personal teaching notes and Bible studies-loosely organized in a document folder," he wrote. "A majority of the chapters in 'One Man One Woman' are adapted directly from my personal Bible studies and teaching notes. The actual inspiration for the book itself came when I was talking to my children's youth pastor about how he would handle a homosexual couple entering a youth Bible study or some other gathering."