Meta blocks advertising for Virginia Woolf play because of mention of feminism

According to “Publico,” those responsible for the theater wanted to place advertisements for their play on Facebook and Instagram as usual. Shortly afterwards, they received an automatic message from Meta saying: “We are rejecting your ad.” And immediately afterwards: “It seems as if you are placing an ad about social issues, elections or politics in the European Union. This violates our advertising guidelines.«

According to the Guardian, Meta justified the decision by saying that "any mention of civil rights, feminism or social reform is usually classified as a 'social issue' and filtered out by our automated system." Feminism and social reform play a central role in Woolf's work. To resolve the situation, Meta recommended removing “keywords” so that the advertising would not appear to promote activism.

About a year ago, Meta banned ads on “political, election-related and social issues.” The reason for the “difficult decision” was the EU’s new transparency requirements, Meta said at the time. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg accused the EU of “censorship”.

The corresponding EU regulation, in turn, is intended to protect against foreign interference before elections for political offices. Platforms must therefore disclose who financed the ad and how much it cost, for what purpose it was placed and which target group is targeted.

Theater believes rejection is unfair

The play's leading actress Clara Sanchis told the newspaper La Vanguardia that they did not know whether the publication of the advertisement was rejected "because of the name Virginia Woolf or because of the word feminism or because of both." She accused Meta of "erasing from history advances that took centuries to achieve."

In a statement, the theater described it as an “injustice” and “violation of our rights” not to be allowed to advertise the work of the author, who was born in 1882. “As a theater, we have to make our activities known,” it says, “and we have to use social media so that people become aware of cultural activities.”

The stage production is a one-woman show starring Clara Sanchis. The play is an adaptation of a series of lectures Woolf gave in 1928 at Newnham and Girton - at the time the only two Cambridge University colleges that admitted women. Woolf published the lectures the following year as an essay on the situation of women in society and their access to education. Although women had been allowed to study at Cambridge since 1869, it was not until 1948 that they were allowed to acquire full academic degrees.

Woolf wrote at the time that to write quality fiction, a woman needed “money and a room to herself.” She wrote in her diary that she expected to be attacked for her statements as a feminist.