Meta takes down SMNI Facebook pages

MANILA, Philippines — Technology company Meta has taken down three Facebook pages affiliated with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), the broadcast media arm of Apollo Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) ministry.

Meta, a US-based multinational company, has yet to disclose why the Facebook pages of SMNI News and its affiliates dzAR 1026 and SMNI Integrated News have been taken down.

But SMNI said in a statement that the three pages were removed from the platform for supposedly “expressing hatred or contempt for a group of people and using harmful racial stereotypes,” in violation of Facebook’s community standards.

“Let us be clear: we do not post anything harmful to the community. If this is the price for speaking the TRUTH, then so be it,” it claimed.

Last year, the House of Representatives revoked the franchise of Swara Sug Media Corp., the company operating SMNI, over various alleged violations, including dissemination of false information.

The network, known for its favorable coverage of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his allies, continued its operations using its online platforms.

The takedown of the SMNI-affiliated pages coincided with the recent arrest of Duterte and his surrender to the International Criminal Court.

But SMNI pages have repeatedly been taken down in the past.

Last month, the network confirmed that the accounts of the handlers of its YouTube channels have been disabled, resulting in loss of access.

SMNI said at least 21 of its accounts across Facebook, YouTube and TikTok have been disabled since 2023.

These include accounts and pages of specific programs, as well as the YouTube channel of the network’s radio station.

The disabling of accounts affiliated with SMNI began in 2023 after the US government-imposed sanctions against Quiboloy under its Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

On top of the charges against him here in the Philippines, Quiboloy is wanted in the US for alleged labor and sex trafficking.

Quiboloy’s pages on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok were the first to be disabled, followed by others affiliated to KOJC and SMNI.

Google, the parent company of YouTube, earlier confirmed that the pages were removed for violation of its community guidelines.

“Google is committed to compliance with applicable US sanctions laws and enforces related policies under its Terms of Service. After review and consistent with these policies, we terminated the Laban Kasama ang Bayan, KOJC and SMNI YouTube channels,” a YouTube spokesperson told The STAR in 2023.

TikTok also confirmed deleting Quiboloy’s account, citing a violation of its community guidelines.

Despite the repeated takedowns, SMNI has tried to create new pages and accounts on some of these platforms.