Prior to Veterans Day, SOFREP launched an ad campaign that would have seen all proceeds be donated to the Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation, but the campaign was immediately shut down by Facebook. The Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation focuses on providing current and former special operations professionals, from all branches of the government, the means necessary to transition and succeed in civilian life.

So, why would Facebook shut down a campaign meant to raise money for a military charity?

According to a Wall Street Journal article, “(Facebook) policies require publishers to label anything considered “political” or “issue-based advertising.” Evidently, if anything in our posts uses the word “military,” we are classified as a “political” advertiser—as seen on Facebook’s Advertiser Help Center in its list of “National Issues of Public Importance”—and must be labeled as such.”

Because of Facebook’s bias toward veteran organizations like SOFREP and We Are The Mighty, we are left with no choice but to take it on the chin until we go through Facebook’s vetting process – or whatever you want to call it – that is making us register as a political organization so that we can run ads that support veteran charities.

This isn’t the first time that SOFREP has been targeted by a social media giant, and because of our pro-America and pro-Military position, it likely won’t be the last.

Earlier this year, Facebook-owned Instagram completely and permanently shut down our company account on their platform for reasons that are still unknown. “Your account has been deleted for not following our terms,” said the email. “You won’t be able to log into this account and no one else will be able to see it. We’re unable to restore accounts that are deleted for these types of violations.”

SOFREP does not promote violence or a particular political party agenda. We report the facts, and if we ever have an opinion, we make it known. Opinion’s from our diverse staff do not reflect the company’s position, but Facebook and Instagram don’t see it that way – nor do they care to find out.

Facebook is under a lot of pressure these days, but in their effort to clean up some of the garbage on their platforms they’re hurting patriotic veteran groups that are just trying to make a positive difference in the world while making a living. If these social media companies keep it up, it is just a matter of time before fed-up Americans do something about it and launch the next platform that will make the Facebook’s, Instagram’s, and Twitter’s of the world obsolete.