Twitter has blocked Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn's (Tenn.) Senate campaign announcement ad, ruling that a pro-life statement was "inflammatory."
At one point in the video, Blackburn, who announced last week that she is running for the Senate in Tennessee, heralded how she "stopped the sale of baby body parts," a reference to her investigation into Planned Parenthood's reported practice of "donating" body parts in return for monetary compensation.
But a Twitter representative told the Blackburn campaign that Twitter blocked the ad from being promoted, calling it "an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction," the Associated Press reported Monday. Twitter said that Blackburn would have to repost the video without the flagged statement in order to advertise.
Instead, Blackburn—who is vying to replace Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), who will not seek another term—tweeted out a call to action on Facebook and Twitter, asking her followers to share the video themselves.
"Twitter shut down our announcement video ad, claiming it was 'inflammatory' & 'negative.' Silicon Valley should not be allowed to impose their values on us," she wrote on Facebook. "Join me in standing up to the liberal elite."
.@Twitter shut down our video ad, claiming it's "inflammatory" & "negative." Join me in standing up to Silicon Valley → RETWEET our message! pic.twitter.com/K3w4AMgW6i
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) October 9, 2017
Blackburn's claim comes months after pro-life organization Live Action also reported that Twitter refused to let the group promote its adds unless it deleted tweets critical of Planned Parenthood.