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Heng Claims Victory as Facebook Restores Banned Campaign Ad
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 7 years ago on
August 7, 2018

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(Update, 8/08/18: this story now includes a statement from Facebook).
Days after accusing Facebook of removing her campaign ad, congressional candidate Elizabeth Heng is claiming victory over the social media giant.
According to Heng’s campaign, Facebook removed an ad that featured the candidate’s life story because of violent images from the Cambodian genocide of the 1980s.
Today, after the Heng campaign reached out to Facebook, the company restored the ad, Heng said.
“I’m deeply disappointed that Facebook would not give me a public apology for targeting a conservative candidate for Congress. It took them five days and an immense amount of pressure before they ‘realized’ that they deliberately blocked my history and my story,” Heng said in a statement.

Facebook Removed Ad

Last Friday (Aug. 3), Facebook removed the ad, Heng said, because the video contained “shocking, disrespectful or sensational” images, in violation of the group’s policy.
Heng posted the video on her Facebook site May 31 and boosted it as a paid advertisement July 29, according to a timeline provided by the campaign.
The nearly four-minute video starts with images of the Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia, of which Heng’s family fled. The images included bodies on the ground in black and white. Heng narrates the story of her parent’s marriage and escape to Fresno under adverse conditions.
The controversy attracted national attention, including a mention on the nationally-syndicated radio show The Rush Limbaugh Program.
Heng also appeared on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning (Aug. 7).
“Upon further review, it is clear the video contains historical imagery relevant to the candidate’s story. We have since approved the ad and it is now running on Facebook,” company spokesperson Devon Kearns told GV Wire in a statement.

Heng Versus Costa

Heng, a Republican, is running for the 16th District seat against incumbent Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno). She garnered national attention by running a close race in the June primary, scoring 47% of the vote in the two-person race. They square off again in the general election in November.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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