After Years Of Cultivation, Facebook Finally Sees Its Relationship With Religion Bear Fruit

By Ty Ross

For several years now Facebook and its owner Mark Zuckerberg have been accused of showing right wing bias when it comes to users on the platform. Ground zero for the spread of anti-vaccine disinformation, that has permeated more than a third of the country. Allowing Right Wing pundits like Ben Shapiro to weaponize, radicalize and politicize issues from social justice, equality, and public health without consequence.

Though Zuckerberg denies having a conservative bias, his actions have shown otherwise. Shutting down voices opposed to Donald Trump, the GOP and those pushing back against Covid disinformation that has contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. And rhetoric that led to the insurrection of January 6, 2021.

But even while reaching $1T (yes TRILLION), in monetization, that still isn’t enough to keep Zuckerberg from wanting more. Although he gets over $11M in ad revenue from Ben Shapiro alone, Zuck knows the Trump grift isn’t gonna go on forever. But one thing that for sure isn’t going away, is religion. As early as 2017, Zuckerberg has been putting a full court press on religious groups and leaders to partner with his platform to spread words of faith. Money and religion go hand in hand. And Zuckerberg wants to be sure he’s the hand, oops I mean man, in the middle.

Not long ago, Facebook began testing a prayer feature among certain groups. Using technology and algorithm to target ads to those who have expressed their faith in one way or another. All aren’t happy with the feature. Feeling it’s an invasion of their religious privacy and don’t like being targeted with the propaganda. But there’s more than enough who do to quell the naysayers.

Even going so far as to hire a Head of Faith Partnerships, Pastor Nora Jones to reach out to other faith leaders. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg held a religious summit that was little more than a church service to unveil Facebook’s plan to help churches around the country connect with their congregations and those looking for faith on Facebook.

A faith resources website has been set up, with tools to increase viewership and engagement. Churches will also be able to monetize their memberships with $10 month subscriptions to exclusive content not available in person service or on regular streaming service. Free of charge camera equipment was distributed to churches with details on how to better their streaming abilities.

Sam Collier, head Pastor of Hillsong in Atlanta said that he signed a deal that includes exclusive streaming rights and monetization. Though an NDA he signed wouldn’t allow him to further discuss the deal. Several other mega churches have signed deals as well.

While Facebook doesn’t discriminate against Jewish, Muslim and other non-Christian religions, there has been criticism by those who say Zuckerberg and Facebook don’t do enough to rid the site of the hateful rhetoric that permeates the site among RW and so-called Christian groups. Though some groups pushing disinformation in regards to the pandemic and the CoV vaccine have been removed, many feel that it’s not nearly enough.

The religious right is continuing their quest for domination on all media platforms, and it seems that Facebook and Zuckerberg are not only welcoming them but encouraging and catering to them. It is becoming increasingly obvious where they stand in this fight for equal, individual and reproductive rights. The lines have been drawn in the sand and Facebook has the stick. This one time fun app used to connect with old friends, has become nothing more but a tool of the right to further push their values and beliefs on the rest of us whether we like it or not. Freedom of religion also guarantees freedom from religion.

When you have prominent religious groups like The Heritage Foundation being caught on tape having worked to get mass voter suppression laws passed nationwide, the anti-abortion bills assault on the LGBTQ community that is raging, the church has not be quiet or shy about what they want for this country and how they feel about those different from them, Facebook has become a cross between the 700 Club and FOX news. And it’s only going to get worse.

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