LifeSiteNews has launched its own official app to break free from the chains of Big Tech. The app is available for download today on the Apple Store, Google Play, Roku, Fire, and Samsung Smart TV.
(LifeSiteNews) — In 2018, LifeSiteNews’ pageviews totaled nearly 66 million. In 2019, we skyrocketed past 100 million pageviews. Our growth, fueled by our passionate and dedicated, truth-seeking readers, immediately got the attention of Big Tech, which started scrutinizing our social media accounts almost instantly.
Like many news websites, LifeSiteNews relied almost exclusively on Facebook and Twitter to promote our articles. LifeSite was first censored by Twitter in October of 2018 for a tweet we published four years earlier in 2014 about the rise of sexually transmitted diseases among homosexuals. Fortunately, thanks to a petition that received 7,500 signatures, Twitter unlocked our account. We would not be so lucky in the years to come.
In December 2019, Twitter again locked us out of our account. This time, it was for referring to a gender-confused Canadian man by his real name. Twitter said we could delete the tweet to regain access, but we refused out of principle. In March 2020, LifeSiteNews co-founder John-Henry Westen signed an open letter along with Media Research Center president Brent Bozell addressed to U.S. Attorney General William Barr and the U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees about the incident.
Before we knew it, Facebook started targeting us as well. In February 2020, a “fact-checker” who worked for third-party group Lead Stories wrongly labeled a LifeSite report on assisted suicide in Sweden as “false,” leading to a reduction in visibility of LifeSite content. In August 2020, Facebook banned a LifeSite petition against mandatory mask mandates. They later apologized for making a “mistake.”
By this point, we had had enough. In October 2020, we launched a groundbreaking video series called Uncensored: Big Tech vs. Free Speech. Our team of rockstar reporters interviewed industry insiders and whistleblowers about how tech companies like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter were cancelling the truth. No one had done anything like that until then.
Amidst all this, LifeSite’s YouTube Channel was experiencing unprecedented growth. Over 200,000 people subscribed to us as of November 2020. Just eleven months prior, the channel only had 56,000 followers.
On November 20th, YouTube deleted a video from our channel because it contained audio from a well-respected Canadian doctor discussing the uselessness of masks. YouTube said we were promoting “medical misinformation.” As a result, we were banned from posting to the account for one week. We encouraged viewers to subscribe to John-Henry’s personal YouTube channel instead.
Less than two months later, YouTube deleted another video we posted. This time, it was for a video of Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, explaining that he wouldn’t take the COVID shot because it was tainted with cells from aborted babies. Our punishment? A two-week ban.
In January 2021, LifeSiteNews announced we were turning to alternative social media platforms to help bring our pro-life, pro-family message to the world. We set up accounts on Rumble, Parler, Telegram, and more. This was a wise decision by our marketing team because on January 8 social media company Buffer informed us we “violated” their user agreement. We had been using their software for many years to help schedule stories on nights and weekends.
January 2021 was also a bad month for LifeSite’s Twitter account. Despite regaining control of our account just several months prior, we were swiftly suspended on January 25 for referring to Joe Biden’s Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services “Rachel” Levine as a man, which he is. Only in October 2022 did LifeSite again obtain access to its Twitter account.
YouTube shut down LifeSite’s channel for good on February 10, 2021. Thousands of hours of videos and more than 300,000 subscribers were instantly lost as a result. YouTube said that we had been posting “medical misinformation,” though they never clarified which videos ultimately lead to our cancelation. Tucker Carlson was one of many media figures to report on our removal.
It took YouTube less than three more months to censor John-Henry’s personal YouTube channel. He had been promoting COVID information that “contradicts the World Health Organization,” they said. YouTube eventually shut down John-Henry’s channel for good in April 2023 after he spoke out against the pro-LGBT movie Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon praised LifeSiteNews during an interview with John-Henry on his “War Room” show, adding that “we’re not going to let them win.”
LifeSiteNews always knew we could not rely on Big Tech to safeguard the truth about life, family, faith, and freedom. After officially being banned from Facebook in May 2021 and later removed completely YouTube, we launched our own video platform in March 2023. Miraculously, we still have our “LSNTV” account on YouTube, and we have LifeSite and LifeSite Catholic accounts on Twitter/X thanks to Elon Musk buying the platform. Still, we know these are not long-term solutions. We must and we will continue to find creative ways to bring the truth to new readers and viewers every day.
