Dennis Quaid Accuses Facebook of Censoring His New Reagan Biopic

Star of the new movie Reagan, Dennis Quaid, appears to be setting up Facebook to blame if his new biopic about the late president fails to be a hit in theaters. Quaid claims that the social media site is “censoring the free flow of ideas” by not allowing an ad for Reagan to be monetarily boosted, thus causing it to have less of an impact on moviegoers who might have otherwise been inclined to check out the film had they seen the promo on Facebook. Quaid portrays the 40th president in the new film, which is slated for release in a couple of weeks on August 30.

Reagan (2011)

From dusty small-town roots, to the glitter of Hollywood and then on to commanding the world stage, Reagan is a cinematic journey of overcoming the odds. Told through the voice of Viktor Petrovich, a former KGB agent whose life becomes inextricably linked with Ronald Reagan’s when Reagan first caught the Soviets’ attention as an actor in Hollywood, this film offers a perspective as unique as it is captivating. Dennis Quaid brings to life a story that transcends the boundaries of a traditional biopic, offering a profound exploration of the enduring impact of the power of one man who overcame the odds, sustained by the love of a woman who supported him in his journey.

Release Date

August 30, 2024

Director

Sean McNamara

Per a letter sent to Newsweek, Quaid claims that Facebook is “throttling” advertising for Reagan, comparing the current landscape of the United States to “the old Soviet Union.” He went on to blame the CEO of the social media giant, Mark Zuckerberg, for the entire thing.

“Facebook is once again censoring the free flow of ideas, deciding what’s best for us to see and hear; only this time it’s throttling advertising and promotion for my movie about Ronald Reagan. Like the old Soviet Union—are we turning into a country of tech oligarchs who control the platform of groupthink to silence the individual or ‘other’ groups?

“Zuckerberg is ultimately responsible for all of this because his company says it might influence the presidential election, but the last time Ronald Reagan’s name was on the ballot was 40 years ago. My challenge to Facebook is to ask if any of these tactics were used against other recent presidential biopics like Lincoln, LBJ, or Southside with You, a film about President Barack Obama, which was also released during an election year.”

Is Facebook to Blame for Censoring Reagan’s Ad?

This whole mess started when Eric McClellan, director of digital marketing for Reagan, tried to pay for a post on Facebook to be boosted in order to get more eyeballs on the film. The ad in question featured an image of Quaid in the movie, with a quote from the late president, taken from a 1982 speech, that reads, “Don’t let anyone tell you that America’s best days are behind her—that the American spirit has been vanquished. We’ve seen it triumph too often in our lives not to believe it now.”

According to McClellan (who did provide photographic evidence), Facebook prevented the post from being boosted, claiming that it “mentions politicians or is about sensitive issues that could influence public opinion, how people vote and may impact the outcome of an election or pending legislation.” Of course that’s silly, since – as Quaid pointed out – Reagan isn’t running for president, but the Facebook bots flagged the post regardless given its language.

So in essence, yes, Facebook is to blame for censoring the advertisement, something that McClellan calls “egregious.” He says the same thing happened back in May when he attempted to boost a post of Quaid being interviewed by controversial conservative media commentator Jordan Peterson, in which the star called Reagan “his favorite movie.”

Facebook eventually reached out to Newsweek to apologize for the mishap, saying that it did “identify a handful of ads from this account that were incorrectly rejected,” before going on to add:

“This happened because our automated systems mistakenly determined that content about President Reagan required prior authorization in accordance with our policies for ads about Social Issues, Elections or Politics. This was a mistake and the restriction on the ads has been lifted.”

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Related

Dennis Quaid on Playing Ronald Reagan, Making The Right Stuff, and Son Jack Quaid’s Great Career

The great Dennis Quaid spoke with MovieWeb about his long all-American career and his new film Reagan, years in the making.

Quaid joins a growing list of people who have accused Facebook of censoring conservative voices to influence political elections. A study conducted by Media Research Center claims that the social media site has “interfered” with elections at least 39 times since 2008, thus proving Zuckerberg and company lean to the left, and aren’t the proponents of free speech that they claim to be.

With the race for the White House in full swing, we’re sure that there will be a lot of other stories like this one to come out, but in terms of Reagan, it’s clear that Facebook unfairly censored ads for the movie. Will that affect its box office performance? We’ll have to wait until August 30 to find out. Check out the ad that Facebook “accidentally” censored below.