Facebook reverses decision to ban ads on conservative publisher
Bethany Mandel, board member of 'Heroes of Liberty,' says the group was never informed by Facebook about ads being reinstated and has been 'left hanging' by the social media platform.
Bethany Mandel, editor and board member of "Heroes of Liberty," said the conservative book publisher was "left hanging" when Facebook decided to ban its ad account. The social media platform has since reversed its decision, reinstating the ad account, but Mandel said she has received no information about the reason the account was disabled.
The company, which sells children’s books that celebrate conservative figures like Ronald Reagan, Amy Coney Barrett and John Wayne, had its ad account disabled on December 23.
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Facebook claimed the account had violated rules against "low quality or disruptive content." Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade said a spokesperson from Meta (formerly Facebook) told "Fox & Friends" Monday that the account was disabled in error and has been restored.
Mandel, however, said Facebook failed to provide an explanation.
"They never told us anything," she said, noting that Facebook’s only response was to again inform her that the account was in violation of guidelines and that the decision was final.
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"Then fast-forward to late last night," she said. "They told multiple members of Congress that we were reinstated, but they've never actually contacted us directly."
"So we see our ad account is back enabled. But we have no idea if we're on probation or if it was in fact an error."
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Mandel said "Heroes of Liberty" is not the first conservative publisher to be suddenly disabled on Facebook. She said a publisher called "White Raiders" reached out to her and claimed its account, which was selling a Bible study app, was also banned days before Christmas two years ago.
"This is the story for a lot of people who are conservative on the platform -- that they're shut down," she said.
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She speculated that liberal Facebook users are likely "triggered" by conservative advertising.
"There are woke people behind the screen at Facebook. They get these complaints, and they see, ‘Oh it’s books about Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell and Amy Coney Barrett. Let’s turn that off because that’s offensive.'"
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