Sunday, 19 March 2017

Christian Homeschool Mom Says Facebook Is Still Censoring Her page

   
    Elizabeth Johnston
 
A Christian mother says Facebook continues to censor her page, which was suspended over posts on what the Bible says about homosexuality and sin. The social media giant apologized but seemingly didn't end the censorship.
 
"People are contacting me saying, 'I cannot access your page at all — my app shuts down when I click on your page.' They say, 'I cannot share your page — there are no share buttons on your videos' or 'I cannot like your page — when I like your page and I go back the next day it is unliked," Elizabeth Johnston, an Ohio homeschool mother of 10 who runs the popular blog and Facebook account "The Activist Mommy,"

"We are actively looking into the issues that have been raised," a spokesperson of Facebook was quoted as saying. "Facebook is a platform for all ideas — we want people of all different perspectives and viewpoints to feel welcome to share their thoughts on Facebook."

Last month, Facebook said that it had made an "error" by suspending her account.

As previously reported by The Christian Post, Facebook froze the public Facebook page of Johnston on Feb. 9 because of a comment she posted about six months earlier that cited passages from the New Testament and Old Testament, including how Leviticus states that homosexuality is a "detestable" sin and an "abomination."

The comment, which included no name-calling, was simply Johnston's commentary in response to another Facebook user, who had commented on one of Johnston's videos and argued that Christians are hypocrites for condemning homosexuality.

"The post was removed in error and we restored it as soon as we were able to investigate," a Facebook spokesperson wrote in an email to CP at the time. "Our team processes millions of reports each week and we sometimes get things wrong. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused."

"Saying this was an accident is a joke!" Johnston told CP in an email. "They sent me the post and said it specifically violated their community guidelines. Now they are saying they accidentally stated that and banned me for 10 days accidentally? No! It took a national news story to get my content returned to my page. What about the average Facebook user who doesn't have that luxury?"
Johnston asked. "I am on a mission now to speak for them. I am receiving messages, screenshots and evidence from all over the world which proves that Facebook's system for filtering and banning is punitive against conservatives and Christians."

She continued, "If Facebook needed time to review the post that someone complained about, then why didn't they simply delete my comment until they had time to review it? Why did they punish me with a 10-day ban? This is damage control because my story hit mainstream media."

Johnston's page has over 76,000 followers. She said she understands that Facebook is a private company and does not have to uphold free speech standards. "But here is where Americans are crying foul: Zuckerberg is saying Facebook is unbiased. But in reality, it appears he is using the platform to further his personal political, religious and globalist agenda," Johnston argued.
"He is using Facebook as an ideological weapon and punishing those of us who don't submit to the agenda with suspensions and deletions of our pages."

At the time of publication, The Christian Post was able to access Johnston's page and the share button appeared to be working.

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