Students for Life Ireland, a pro-life student group, has criticised the censorship of pro-life people on social media in recent weeks. Spokesperson for the group, Serena Lazarus, a student of Medicine in NUI Galway said:
“In recent weeks it appears the international pro-life movement has been targeted by social media companies, with the sudden deleting of many pro-life twitter and facebook accounts becoming a widespread phenomenon. While most of this censorship appears to be confined to the USA, Irish pro-life social media users have been reporting a significant and sudden reduction in their numbers of followers. This is a deeply concerning development. Much of the traditional media remains biased against the pro-life movement, so we rely heavily on social media as a means by which to get our life-affirming message across to members of the public. Our social media accounts are vital too, in helping to connect women experiencing unplanned pregnancies with support systems for them and their babies”.
Ms Lazarus continued: “Any attempts to censor pro-life people will be resisted. For me personally, as a pro-life medical student, it frustrates me greatly to see pro-choice activists frequently spread misinformation which is not grounded in medicine and science, and go unchallenged by Facebook or Twitter moderators. In Students for Life Ireland, we pride ourselves in our professional, compassionate, sensitive, respectful, factual and scientific approach to debate and discussion”.
“While social media can be a hostile place for pro-life campaigners, it is vital that we hold firm. I fully understand the temptation to delete one’s social media accounts due to what’s happening in the USA, but we must remember that through our facebook posts and twitter tweets we are changing hearts and minds. We must not give up in the fight for mothers and babies! At the moment we are accepting submissions of blog posts for publication on our facebook page and website. If you would like to send us a short piece explaining why you are pro-life please email us hello@studentsforlife.ie or send us a direct message!” concluded Ms Lazarus.
ENDS