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Facebook Bans Ad Containing 9/11 Footage for “Shocking, Sensational” Content

Beth Bailey
4 min readSep 11, 2019

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After September 11, 2001, Americans made the united declaration that they would “Never Forget” the terror attacks that took 2,977 innocent lives and rocked our sense of security.

World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001 (Image from flickr)

Eighteen years later, Facebook has determined that the well-documented reality of that day’s disturbing events is not appropriate for its audiences. Just days before the anniversary of the terror attacks, the website refused to host an ad for a 9/11 docuseries because it “uses an image or video that contains shocking, sensational, or excessively violent content.”

Facebook’s notice was delivered to veteran-owned, veteran-operated company Nine Line Apparel, which sought to use the site to advertise “Unshaken Courage,” a four-part docuseries and full documentary produced in tribute to those whose lives were lost during the attacks of 9/11.

According to Nine Line Apparel’s marketing department, ads for three segments of the “Unshaken Courage” docuseries were initially denied by Facebook. An ad for the documentary was likewise denied, and cited for alleged use of “profanity, implied profanity, or insulting language.”

After Nine Line Apparel appealed these denials, Facebook approved ads for two segments of the docuseries and the full “Unshaken Courage” documentary. They…

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Beth Bailey
Beth Bailey

Written by Beth Bailey

Freelance writer working on a novel about love and the war in Afghanistan. You can find my work in the Washington Examiner, the Federalist, and the Detroit News

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