Have the BNP been banned by Google?

I’m not sure, but it looks like the British National Party have had their Google Adsense account suspended following our little Cartoon Blog campaign.

At the beginning of May I posted ‘Should the BNP be allowed to show Google adverts?‘, where I wrote a letter to Google Adsense saying that the BNP should not be allowed to participate in the Google Adsense programme on their blog (http://chairmanscolumn.blogspot.com) because their racist viewpoints contravene the Adsense terms and conditions. I pointed out some extracts from the BNP manifesto which I believe demonstrate clearly the BNP’s racist stance. I have included the text of my letter below the fold.

It now looks as if the account is suspended. I’m not sure how it’s possible to check to be 100% certain, but it appears that Google have banned the BNP from Adsense. The code is still in place on the blog, but the adverts aren’t showing up. In Firefox there is just a blank space, whilst in Internet Explorer an error message is shown. I cannot see any reason for the ads not to be showing unless Google had decided that the BNP violate their terms and conditions. I can’t see any other reason for the account to have been terminated either.

Before:

After:

The line in the BNP blog code with the adsense code linking to their ID number is google_ad_client=”ca-pub-7694325752431178″, just in case that enables any geeks to do some detective work.

The error mesage on the Google Ad slot is:

You are not authorized to view this page
You might not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials you supplied.

If you believe you should be able to view this directory or page, please try to contact the Web site by using any e-mail address or phone number that may be listed on the pagead2.googlesyndication.com home page.
You can click Search to look for information on the Internet.
HTTP Error 403 – Forbidden
Internet Explorer

This is the original letter to Google Adsense:

Dear Google Adsense,

In your terms and conditions for the Adsense programme you state:

“Site may not include:
Violence, racial intolerance, or advocate against any individual, group, or organsation”

This site is run by the British National Party in the UK and includes Adsense advertisements:
http://chairmanscolumn.blogspot.com/

The British National Party promote a number of policies that are racist, ie ‘Discrimination or prejudice based on race’.

For example, to take just a few short extracts from this page of their manifesto:
( http://www.bnp.org.uk/candidates2005/manifesto/manf4.htm )

“5. We would abolish all departments, agencies, or other units of government whose sole and specific purpose is to deal with ethnic issues, grievances, or crimes.”

“6. We would abolish all laws against racial discrimination in employment and the government bodies associated with enforcing them.”

“10. A massively-funded and permanent programme, using and doubling Britain’s current foreign aid budget, will aim to reduce, by voluntary resettlement to their lands of ethnic origin, the proportion of ethnic minorities living in Britain, for as long as the majority of the electorate are willing to fund such expenditure.”

“11. While accepting the right of law-abiding minorities, in our country because they or their ancestors came here legally, to remain here and to enjoy the full protection of the law against any form of harassment or hostility, we will also seek to emphasise the importance of the prior status of the aboriginal people. This would be a national extension of the ‘Sons and Daughters’ policy in priority on housing and school places lists which BNP councils seek to implement at local level.”

I do not believe that most of your advertisers would like to be associated with this kind of organisation. I suspect many Adsense publishers, of whom I am one, would not want to have such an organisation among their fellow publishers. I would ask you therefore to consider whether the British National Party should continue to be allowed to show your adverts in this way.

Yours,

Dave Walker