Facebook Blocks Country Band from Promoting Song Celebrating American Flag
IMAGE CREDITS: WES COOK BAND / YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT.
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A country music band says a patriotic song they created which celebrates the American flag was censored by Facebook.
The Nashville-based Wes Cook Band on Monday wrote that the social media giant had prevented them from promoting their song, “I Stand for the Flag,” using the platform’s paid ads tool due to its political message.
“Our paid FB ads were denied and our reach thereby censored because this video contains ‘political content’. We believe Patriotism is not Political!” the band said in a Facebook post.
The song’s lyrics rally people of all walks of life to unite behind Old Glory, stating, “Don’t care if you’re black or white or who you love, I stand for the Flag, and the Flag stands for all of us.”
Other lyrics encourage unity: “You ain’t gotta pick a side. You can love your fellow man and still have pride,” and the video also shows people of all races celebrating America.
Screenshots showed Facebook rejected the band’s request to boost the post, significantly reducing the song’s circulation.
In a message to Fox News, Facebook claimed the band’s paid ad rejection was a mistake.
“We recently announced anyone running ads about political or other major national issues must include a ‘paid for’ label,” a Facebook spokesperson stated.
“After looking again, we determined that this ad doesn’t need that label. While this is a new policy, and while we won’t ever be perfect, we think knowing who is behind an ad is important, and we’ll continue to work on improving as we roll it out.”
Despite acknowledging the error, Breitbart notes Facebook has yet to rectify the situation.
“…[I]t remains to be seen if Facebook has actually fixed the problem or if the social media giant has been in touch with the band at all,” reports Warner Todd Huston. “Sources close to the matter say Facebook still has not rectified the issue despite its statement admitting it made a mistake and claiming it would reverse that mistake.”