Australian pop star Dami Im's new music video deemed too 'sexually provocative' to promote on Facebook

Facebook has said it can't promote the music video for Australian pop star Dami Im's new single because it's 'sexually provocative or overly suggestive'. Photo / Getty Images

Dami Im's new music video has been deemed too "sexually provocative" to promote on Facebook.

Im, who won the fifth season of The X Factor Australia in 2013, released the video for her new single Crying Underwater yesterday.

But when the singer's management team tried to promote the video on Facebook with a paid advertisement, the request was rejected by the social media site.

"This ad isn't running because it is sexually provocative or overly suggestive," Facebook's reply said.

In the music video, Im is singing on a beach and rolling around fully clothed in the water.

Crying Underwater - Offical Music Video

The official video for Crying Underwater is finally OUT! 🌊🌊 This is my most personal song that I've ever written and I know many people can relate to this.. Hope you like the visuals..💙 Official Video: https://youtu.be/WdIKD5HXZLw Stream Crying Underwater: https://orcd.co/dami_crying_underwater Tour Dates: http://www.damiim.com/tour

Posted by Dami Im on Saturday, 21 September 2019

The singer, who has spoken openly in the past about her Christian faith, was actually in church yesterday when she discovered the Facebook ad had been blocked.

"When I saw the email I was surprised but also had to have a laugh," Im told news.com.au today. "Anyone who knows me knows I'm way too much of a dag for any of my videos to be considered explicit or raunchy!

"I feel the clip captures the essence of song, reflecting the mental anguish of having to mask your sadness and emotions in today's society."

Crying Underwater is Im's first single since Fighting For Love, which she released in 2016 after finishing second in Eurovision.

"After I sang it (for the first time in front of a crowd) I couldn't stop my tears from coming," Im told the Courier Mail recently. "I thought, 'Wow I'm finally here, I get to share myself'. It was really emotional.

"I've always been a songwriter, since I was a teen. But after winning X Factor in 2013 and being signed to a label, all that pressure, it stopped me from songwriting the way I used to — just being honest and deep. I kind of lost touch with that for a while."