A North Carolina father set up a Facebook community page with the goal of raising $75,000 for his two-year-old son’s heart transplant surgery. However, when he tried to pay Facebook to boost the reach of the page, the site told him no. According to the father, Kevin Bond, the site told him that the picture he selected to boost the page, featuring his young son with tubes taped to his nose and mouth, was too “negative.” 

“Your ad wasn’t approved because the image or video thumbnail is scary, gory, or sensational and evokes a negative response,” Facebook allegedly wrote to Bond. “Images including accidents, car crashes, dead and dismembered bodies, ghosts, zombies, ghouls, and vampires are not allowed.”

“Of all the garbage they endlessly peddle over the Internet, a picture of my son is where they draw the line,” Bond told BuzzFeed. “What is offensive about the attached picture of my son?”

Though Facebook went back on its stance and allowed the picture to be posted, the timing of the site’s refusal to allow the picture of a sick child could not have been worse. After all, earlier this week, the site was steadfast in its refusal to take down a video of a cat being burned alive. Needless to say, Facebook’s priorities when it comes to censoring content is frustratingly inconsistent

Recommended Resources

DoNotTrackMe® is a used by millions of people worldwide for free to block web tracking and spam email. Advanced Premium features ($5/mo.) allow you to protect more private information by creating one-time use, private credit cards when you shop online.

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams on Facebook.