Facebook finally responds on censoring hot Bible verse

Bob Unruh

Facebook claims that censoring a Bible verse from a Christian writer’s page was a mistake, and it has since apologized.

But to whom?

Julio Severo, an activist whose Facebook pages have been attacked at least three times in just the last six months by Facebook itself, says he has not heard anything from the social-media giant.

WND reported Monday Facebook deleted a Bible verse, Leviticus 18:22, that Severo had posted.

That’s the one in which God instructs, “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”

Some translations use the word “abomination.”

The verse is a favorite target for actor Ian McKellen, who has admitted that when he stays in hotels and motels, he takes out the Bibles from nightstands and “rips out pages that contain a certain passage from Leviticus.”

Facebook had sent a message to Severo that said: “We Removed Something You Posted. It looks like something you posted doesn’t follow our Community Standards. We remove posts that attack people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender or disability. Levítico 18.22: Não de deitarás com homem, como se fosse mulher; abominação é.”

WND’s initial request to Facebook for comment brought only an automated response.

Days later, Severo’s page again was active, and a Facebook statement to WND, released on condition that it be considered “on background,” said the post “was mistakenly removed by a member of our review team after we received reports that content in the post violated our Community Standards.”

“As soon as we were notified of the problem, we began to investigate and restored the content as soon as we were able to identify the mistake,” Facebook said. “The content has been restored since it didn’t violate our standards. We’ve informed Mr. Severo of the restoration and apologized for the error.”

But Severo told WND there was no apology. And he said there’s a longtime pattern of Facebook attacking him.

He said he was put on a 30-day suspension on Jan. 28.

It was while he was on suspension that the Bible verse issue arose.

And last summer, Facebook gave him another 30-day suspension for posting an article about homosexuality in Brazil.

At that time the company also admitted the suspension was a mistake but still left it in place, Severo said.

The linked article reported neighbors were fined $4,500 for calling a homosexual a name, but Severo said his posting “made it abundantly clear that I oppose name-calling and foul language.”

The company appears to be targeting Christians, Severo said, noting “pictures of the communist criminal Che Guevara, who murdered people, including gay men, remain unshakingly throughout Facebook’s social network, as if his filthy image did not deserve banishment for his crimes.”

To read the full text, click here.

Portuguese version of this article: Facebook finalmente responde sobre sua censura a versículo picante da Bíblia

Source: WND

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