Twitter isn’t outright censoring a pro-life news service, but the social media giant is limiting Live Action’s access to advertising opportunities. Twitter refuses to allow Live Action to sponsor posts on the site unless it removes some tweets from its timeline.
Twitter gave the pro-life news service two options for advertising on its site: Remove tweets that Twitter considers offensive or direct tweets to a website that doesn’t have content Twitter deems offensive.
Live Action on its website posted emails from Twitter about advertising on the social media platform.
“To rectify the issue, Twitter asked Live Action to delete all paid ads and organic tweets it deemed inflammatory, abusive, or offensive, and to go through several rounds of edits with Twitter’s policy team until Live Action’s accounts are considered approved for advertising,” a Live Action post reads. “In addition, Twitter said Live Action’s tweets could not even contain links to its website with sensitive content, requiring Live Action to scrub and delete content from its web properties.”
Twitter sent Live Action an email listing the kinds of tweets and information it finds offensive. The content includes ultrasound images of infants in utero, Live Action’s undercover investigations, Center for Medical Progress undercover investigations, videos or images of abortion procedures, and links to a petition seeking the defunding of Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood is allowed to advertise on the social media site, however.
“While (Twitter) won’t censor Live Action’s and Lila Rose’s tweets outright, Twitter has banned the ability to advertise our content until Live Action deletes all tweets it deems offensive–or, in reality, all the tweets that offend Planned Parenthood,” the Live Action post reads.
Live Action posted examples of tweets the social media giant wanted removed alongside approved Planned Parenthood tweets.
Censoring life-affirming advertisements may be the new battleground for Planned Parenthood. In the Kansas City area, Planned Parenthood’s communications director successfully demanded that a local radio station scrub advertisements for Advice & Aid Pregnancy Centers, and an outside group demanded that the Kansas City Royals’ back office severe a partnership between the baseball organization and the Vitae Foundation. Vitae attempts to help women in difficult pregnancies find pregnancy support centers across the country.
Live Action is a donor-funded news service dedicated to building a culture of life and educating the public about the humanity of the preborn.