Is EZA interfering with freedom of expression now?

I've seen increasing complaints about EZA here recently. Much of this is about linking. EZA has been getting more and more restrictive about how you link, but some of this is about quality control and I've actually welcomed the tightening up.

But now it appears they may be starting to interfere with freedom of expression itself and this is a whole different ball of wax.

I'm a Platinum writer with scores of articles over the years with never a single problem... until now. My latest article was rejected because "we are not able to accept any articles that advocate against a business or product".

The supposed business or product I "advocated against" is a so-called "polypill". This is a new pharmaceutical development whereby several different drugs are combined in a single pill. It is controversial and as a promoter of natural health I criticized it.

Now, the polypill is a class or type of drug, not a specific drug, product or brand. Many manufacturers are making them for various purposes. I did not mention anything to identify my target with any specific business or product.

To make an analogy, my article was comparable to criticizing a new trend in cars but without mentioning Ford, Chevrolet or BMW, all of whom are making them. What's more, I've written dozens of articles very similar to this. In one of them I wrote pretty strongly about statins, a class of cholesterol drugs. That one was much more critical than my polypill article.

So what's changed? Is EZA suddenly afraid of the drugs industry coming down on them? If so, somebody should warn the American Medical Association, which sometimes publishes some pretty harsh condemnations of drug companies in their journals (while promoting them on the following page!)

Maybe an EZA editor just misunderstood. Maybe they think "polypill" is a brand name like Anacin or Bufferin. Doesn't look like any brand name to me! But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I get a reply to my clarification.

If it's rejected I'm going to be pretty frustrated. There's really no other comparable article directory on the web... but maybe the time is ripe for one to come along.

By the way, I cannot find "we are not able to accept any articles that advocate against a business or product" in the official EZA guidelines. The closest I can find is must not "advocate against any individual or group" in the hate and violence clause. This is a totally different thing.