{"id":1175,"date":"2011-09-17T10:30:18","date_gmt":"2011-09-17T14:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/?p=1175"},"modified":"2011-09-16T15:31:35","modified_gmt":"2011-09-16T19:31:35","slug":"jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html","title":{"rendered":"Jay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A troubling new report issued by the National Religious Broadcasters<\/a> (NRB)\u00a0suggests that Christians are being censored online because of their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

In a 43-page report, the NRB stated that many of the biggest new Internet sites blocked Christian content and refused to accept faith-based advertisements.<\/a> “Our conclusion is that Christian ideas and other religious content face a clear and present danger of censorship on Web-based communication platforms,” the report concluded.<\/p>\n

The study focused on the biggest and most influential online platforms and service providers. The NRB looked at Apple and its iTunes App Store, Facebook, MySpace (prior to its recent change in ownership), Google, Twitter, Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. Only Twitter got a passing grade.<\/p>\n

“There’s actually a pattern of anti-Christian censorship that’s already occurred among several of them. And, then, when we looked farther, looked at their written policies, we found that [with] everyone of them, except for Twitter again,” Craig Parshall, general counsel for the NRB, said. “They get an A+ from us. The rest of them get failing grades,” he added.<\/p>\n

A number of organizations worked with the NRB on this project, including the ACLJ. Senior Counsel Colby May, who heads up our office of governmental affairs in Washington, put the issue into the proper perspective <\/a>in an interview with a reporter: “More speech is better than less speech. Open and robust debate and contending for the things that matter is essential.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0The report identifies key issues of concern:<\/a> “(1) the past practices of anti-Christian censorship among some of these platforms; (2) free speech-inhibiting policies that facilitate censorship and which are already in place among almost all of the web-based communications companies reviewed here; (3) both market-driven and self-interest motivations for these companies to impose viewpoint censorship; and (4) the trend toward technological convergence of these platforms, which will further entrench their discriminatory practices and\/or policies.”<\/p>\n

Let’s hope this report serves as a wake-up call to the mega Internet-interactive “new media” companies. The First Amendment is the cornerstone of our freedoms. And, it’s certainly time these online companies and providers get the message, too.<\/p>\n

Stay in touch with all of our work by visiting the Jay Sekulow<\/a> page on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A troubling new report issued by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)\u00a0suggests that Christians are being censored online because of their religious beliefs. In a 43-page report, the NRB stated that many of the biggest new Internet sites blocked Christian content and refused to accept faith-based advertisements. “Our conclusion is that Christian ideas and other religious…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3,141,4],"tags":[743,363,776,365,791,366,368,364,367],"class_list":["post-1175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aclj","category-faith","category-first-amendment","category-justice","tag-aclj","tag-christian-censorship","tag-first-amendment","tag-internet-media","tag-jay-sekulow","tag-national-religious-broadcasters","tag-new-media","tag-online-media","tag-social-media"],"yoast_head":"\nJay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech? - Faith & Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech? - Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A troubling new report issued by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)\u00a0suggests that Christians are being censored online because of their religious beliefs. In a 43-page report, the NRB stated that many of the biggest new Internet sites blocked Christian content and refused to accept faith-based advertisements. “Our conclusion is that Christian ideas and other religious…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-17T14:30:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-09-16T19:31:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech? - Faith & Justice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech? - Faith & Justice","og_description":"A troubling new report issued by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)\u00a0suggests that Christians are being censored online because of their religious beliefs. In a 43-page report, the NRB stated that many of the biggest new Internet sites blocked Christian content and refused to accept faith-based advertisements. “Our conclusion is that Christian ideas and other religious…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html","og_site_name":"Faith & Justice","article_published_time":"2011-09-17T14:30:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-09-16T19:31:35+00:00","author":"Jay Sekulow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html","name":"Jay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech? - Faith & Justice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-09-17T14:30:18+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-16T19:31:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#\/schema\/person\/fd4c384af0620d4b82ae09cf1d77bdb4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/09\/jay-sekulow-does-online-media-censor-christian-speech.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jay Sekulow: Does Online Media Censor Christian Speech?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/","name":"Faith & Justice","description":"Jay Sekulow - ACLJ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#\/schema\/person\/fd4c384af0620d4b82ae09cf1d77bdb4","name":"Jay Sekulow","description":"Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law. He is also Chief Counsel of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow is one of the leading defenders of constitutional rights and religious liberties in the United States. Over the past 25 years, Jay Sekulow has amassed an unparalleled record of accomplishment, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court on 12 occasions. His aggressive litigation strategy before the Supreme Court has led to many landmark First Amendment victories. In his first case before the Supreme Court, Jews for Jesus, Jay Sekulow secured the right of religious groups to pass out tracks in airports. In Mergens, Jay Sekulow successfully protected the right of students to form Bible clubs and prayer groups on public school campuses. In Lamb\u2019s Chapel, Jay Sekulow cleared the way for churches to have equal access to public facilities in the same way that other groups are permitted to utilize those facilities. In the Bray and Operation Rescue cases, Jay Sekulow protected the free speech rights of pro-life advocates to be free from criminal prosecution for conveying their pro-life message. In McConnell v. FEC, Jay Sekulow protected the right of young people to engage in the political process by donating to the campaign of their choice. In Pleasant Grove, Jay Sekulow paved the way for governments to be able to display Ten Commandments monuments, and other monuments of their choosing, in public parks. Through the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow engages the political, legal, and cultural battles facing America today. He routinely works with Members of Congress, advising them on proposed legislation and representing them in critical legal matters. Jay Sekulow has also testified before Congress on the constitutionality of proposed legislation. Also, in addition to being a successful Supreme Court advocate, Jay Sekulow is a highly respected broadcaster. Jay Sekulow is the host of Jay Sekulow Live! which airs each weekday on over 850 radio stations nationwide, in addition Sirius and XM satellite radio. He brings insight and education to listeners daily through this national call-in radio program. He is also the host of the ACLJ This Week, the ACLJ\u2019s weekly television program. Jay Sekulow regularly appears on major media outlets, including FOX News, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, where he is sought out for his vast experience in constitutional law and his unique insight into many of the pressing legal and political issues facing America today. He is frequently quoted in the nation's leading newspapers and often contributes opinion editorials to national publications. Jay Sekulow has also published numerous law review and other scholarly articles. Jay Sekulow has received numerous honors for his groundbreaking legal work in the area of free speech and religious liberties. The Legal Times has named Sekulow one of \u201cThe 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years\u201d and the National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \u201c100 Most Influential Lawyers\u201d in the United States. In addition, TIME Magazine listed Jay Sekulow as one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America. Jay Sekulow\u2019s legal work in defense of religious liberties and human rights extends beyond the United States, having founded the ECLJ in Strasbourg, France, which maintains consultative status with the United Nations. He has also opened offices in Pakistan, Africa, and Jerusalem, Israel. Jay Sekulow is a staunch defender of Israel, presenting arguments before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. His efforts in support of Israel\u2019s right to defend itself from terrorist attacks have been commended by Israeli government officials, one official stating, \"Jay was instrumentally-involved in projects that the President of Israel and the Prime Minister put on our national agenda.\" Jay Sekulow also has a passion for educating the next generation of religious liberty advocates. He is a member of the Regent University Law School Faculty as a Distinguished Professor of Law and routinely teaches courses on constitutional law and presents guest lectures. Jay Sekulow has also started educational programs in international human rights law in Strasbourg, France and at Handong University in South Korea. Jay Sekulow is a graduate of Mercer University, earning both a bachelor\u2019s degree and doctor of jurisprudence. Sekulow served on the editorial staff of the Mercer Law Review and graduated cum laude. He later earned a Ph.D. from Regent University, writing his dissertation on American Legal History. Jay Sekulow also serves on the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, D.C. Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsels full biography and video. Jay Sekulow on Facebook. Jay Sekulow on Twitter. Jay Sekulow on YouTube.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/author\/jay_sekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1175"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1183,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175\/revisions\/1183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}