Facebook reverses ban on ads for Roy Scheider Holocaust movie after claiming it violated race policy

Facebook has reversed a decision to ban advertising a Holocaust film titled Beautiful Blue Eyes after initially claiming the title violated their policy on racially offensive names.

The title refers to the eye color of a child who died at the hands of the Nazis and evokes a key scene in the film.

Still, in early September, Facebook banned showing the trailer on their site because it violated their policy against content that “contains direct or indirect claims or implications about a person’s race,” among other personal characteristics.

It’s still unclear how the film’s title violated race policy, as blue eyes aren’t exclusive to just one race.

The film’s director accused Facebook of “alarming” censorship that should concern “every decent and sensible person on this planet.”

That’s what Facebook’s parent company Meta told Friday Ars Technica said the Facebook owner was reviewing the matter and decided to lift the ban. It’s unclear if that meant Zuckerberg himself was involved.

“We looked at the ads and page in question and determined that enforcement was wrong, so we’ve lifted the restriction,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Beautiful Blue Eyes is the last film made by Jaws actor Roy Scheider, who died in 2008 at the age of 75.

The film was initially released in 2009, but thanks to new technology, the director, Joshua Newton, was able to rework it for release this month.

One of the cameras did not work during filming and some footage was lost. Newton was able to use AI technology to repair the damaged frames and release the film as he originally intended.

Bur Newton was told early this month that the film had been blacklisted by Facebook because of its title — a move he said was horrific.

“Every decent and sane person on this planet should be alarmed by Meta-Facebook’s ban on advertising a Holocaust-related film,” Newton said.

“Mark Zuckerberg has created a monster that is unsupervised,” he said rolling stonespeaking at the Toronto Film Festival.

“It’s one thing to be flagged by an algorithm. It’s another thing for Meta-Facebook employees to judge and uphold the flag knowing that the title is non-discriminatory and that the film is Holocaust-related.”

The film tells the story of Joseph, played by Scheider – a Holocaust survivor who moved to New York and joined the NYPD. Joseph discovers that the Nazi guard who killed his entire family is living under a false identity in Germany, and formulates a plan to kill him.

Scheider’s character Joseph is haunted by memories of the SS guard who killed his family

The film was released earlier this month, despite Facebook’s refusal to promote the film

Newton’s parents were Holocaust survivors and he based the film in part on his father’s experiences.

But the film’s distributor told Newton they had heard that the film could not be advertised on Facebook because it violates its policy against content that contains “direct or indirect claims or implications about a person’s race,” among other personal characteristics. .

Newton said he couldn’t believe Zuckerberg would approve such a move.

“This is the action of haters – and unfortunately there are many in our society – who want to damage the film in order to downplay the Holocaust,” Newton said.

“Mark Zuckerberg probably didn’t mean this.”

Newton appealed, but Facebook declined to reconsider.

“Following a requested review of your Facebook account, we have confirmed it did not meet our advertising policies or other standards,” they replied, according to Rolling Stone.

You can no longer advertise with Facebook products. This is our final decision.’

Mark Zuckerberg (left) was accused by film director Joshua Newton (right) of ‘creating a monster’

Advertising for the film, including trailers, was now “permanently restricted,” they said.

Facebook changed its mind on Friday after Newton said it was considering taking legal action.

‘Clear, [Mark Zuckerberg] is way too busy developing his company’s presence in the metaverse,” Newton said.

“Instead of focusing on virtual reality, Zuckerberg should take note of what’s happening in the real world.”