YouTube blocks preacher over gay cure claim

  17 April 2021    Read: 2202
YouTube blocks preacher over gay cure claim @AFP

YouTube has suspended the account of influential Nigerian TV evangelist TB Joshua over allegations of hate speech.

A rights body filed a complaint after reviewing at least seven videos showing the preacher conducting prayers to "cure" gay people.

Facebook has also removed at least one of the offending posts showing a woman being slapped while TB Joshua says he is casting out a "demonic spirit".

The preacher said he was appealing against YouTube's decision.

His YouTube account had 1.8 million subscribers.

TB Joshua is one of Africa's most influential evangelists, with top politicians from across the continent among his followers.

Why was the account closed?

UK-based openDemocracy filed a complaint after reviewing seven videos posted on TB Joshua Ministries' YouTube channel between 2016 and 2020, which show the preacher conducting prayers to "cure" gay people.

A YouTube spokesperson told openDemocracy that the channel had been closed because its policy "prohibits content which alleges that someone is mentally ill, diseased, or inferior because of their membership in a protected group including sexual orientation".

A post on TB Joshua Ministries Facebook account said: "We have had a long and fruitful relationship with YouTube and believe this decision was made in haste."

 


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