Facebook rejects ad for video about America's Christian origins over supposed nudity

Social media giant Facebook has rejected an advertisement for a video highlighting the Christian origins of America due to "images or videos that show nudity or cleavage."

The video, titled "Lost Secrets of Liberty," was produced by Heirloom Audio Productions to commemorate the nation's Independence Day this coming July.

The short animated video itself has been successfully posted on Facebook, but the advertisement submitted by Heirloom Audio was rejected on Wednesday due to an alleged violation of their nudity policy, The Christian Post reported.

While the social media company did not specify the problem, Heirloom Audio founder, Bill Heid, assumed that the video was rejected because it included an image of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.

"I applaud Facebook for having standards," Heid said. "However, I'm also deeply saddened by the tragic and unjustified banning of our new family-friendly Christian production. I created this Independence Day video for parents to watch with their kids so they could discuss the origins of America's liberty," he added.

Heid said that he was inspired to produce the video partly because he believes that the word "liberty" lacks a clear definition, even though it is often used in political debates.

"For starters, no one has the right to do what he or she pleases," he said in the video, noting that one specific dictionary defines the word in that way. "Real liberty springs from the Gospel," he continued.

The video claims to present "little-known facts" about the nation's Christian heritage, such as the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, promoting a scene from the Book of Exodus as the national seal.

Heirloom Audio has submitted an appeal to Facebook, but the social media company has not issued a comment or response as of Thursday afternoon.

In 2015, Facebook released a set of guidelines clarifying its position on which nudity images are acceptable on its website.

The guidelines noted that the social media website removes images "displaying genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks," as well as some images of "female breasts if they include the nipple."

However, it noted that some photographs of paintings, sculptures and other art depicting nude figures are allowed.

Facebook's policy drew controversy last year when the website removed a post that featured the iconic Vietnam War photo of a naked girl running from a napalm attack. The social media giant reportedly made an exception following numerous outraged comments accusing the company of censorship.