When the founder of a Christian veterans group tried to post an ad on YouTube, his ad was rejected for using the keyword ‘Christian.’
Chad Robichaux, founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation, got an email from the video sharing platform informing him that his ad violated the site’s advertising policy, reports Premier.
How do we operate as a Christian organization if we can’t use the word ‘Christian?’ —Chad Robichaux, founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation
The foundation helps veterans going through post-traumatic stress disorder and Robichaux complained that the advertising giant screened the organization’s ad as unacceptable. He shared his disappointment on Twitter including a screenshot of YouTube’s message.
The group’s head tweeted, “We ran a YouTube ad for our veterans ministry outreach for those in need & it was denied for the word “Christian”. Insane! #Censorship should terrify every American; conservative or liberal, Christian or Muslim. This bias is a dangerous course for America.”
YouTube said it has banned advertisements which target audience based on religion, pointing out that “religious beliefs are personal.” The tech giant clarified that advertisements using religious terms such as ‘Christian’ are allowed.
The U.S. Marine veteran denounced YouTube’s obvious religious discrimination. He argued that he tried to post the same ad using the keyword ‘Muslim’ and it was approved. He said, “We’ve ran ads with the keyword “Christian” for years. This year alone we had 150,000 impressions on that word in our ads. As per your support line this is a new restriction.”
Robichaux insisted that his organization wouldn’t be able to reach combatants in need because of YouTube’s restriction.
In an interview with Faithwire, he said, “How do we reach the people we’re called to reach? We’re not a political organization; we’re a ministry that’s called to serve the brokenhearted, and that’s what we’re trying to do. How do we operate as a Christian organization if we can’t use the word ‘Christian.”
The Google-owned platform justified that the policy was newly implemented.
