During the coronavirus pandemic, most churches around the world have turned to digital streaming platforms in an effort to continue preaching and teaching their congregations. It is true that we should be at least somewhat thankful that we have this technology to do this, but as the Church relies on the digital propagation of God’s Word, we have failed to realize that we are now beholden to digital media giants that have a history of not respecting religious freedoms and free speech.
Facebook, a platform that many churches are relying on to continue to connect with their congregations, are well known for shutting down pages of groups and organizations which they have deemed to be propagating “hate speech.” The vast majority of these organizations are those who speak out against homosexuality and abortion. Right now, most churches who rely on Facebook are violating Facebook’s “hate speech” policy if, in fact, they are preaching the Word of God.
This is true for other platforms as well, including Livestream, YouTube, and Vimeo. Last year, Vimeo banned a church and removed their account for speaking out against homosexuality. YouTube and LiveStream are doing the same thing. And right now, we — as a Church — are being told to be thankful for this technology.
The bottom line is that these media giants are not regulated by the FCC and are considered private organizations that can choose to allow the flow of whatever content the ivory-tower limp-wristed leftists deem to be appropriate. They are not required by law to respect free speech or religious rights. Right now, if these companies start facing pushback from left-wing activists to shut down churches who are preaching God’s word, they will not hesitate to do it, rest assured.
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This is not a good position for the Church to be in. Church cannot be regulated by corporate social media giants. We’re being told by government to stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus but to place our trust in technology to continue to worship and teach the Scriptures.
If you can’t realize that this is a step closer to the removal of religious freedom in this country, you’re naive. Right now, the Church is right where the world wants them to be — under the control of an anti-Christian system that we must obey.
