YouTube blocks Nigerian preacher TB Joshua’s account for ‘homosexual healing’ claims

“I came to know what happened to YouTube when I saw viewers complaining … I want you to help me pray for YouTube … Don’t see them in reverse, see them as friends. We need to be strong. “TB Joshua said in a sermon posted on the ministry’s Facebook page over the weekend.

The YouTube channel of the Synagogue of the Church of All Nations (SCOAN) – led by Joshua – was deactivated last week and can no longer be watched by its nearly two million subscribers.

OpenDemocracy, a UK-based media rights group, told CNN that it sent a message to YouTube on April 8 asking if conversion therapy videos had violated its policies.

“I watched at least seven videos. In one video, TB Joshua slapped a woman and her partner, whom she called the ‘second’ (partner) at least 16 times,” said Lydia Namubiru, editor of OpenDemocracy’s Africa.

“She said she was throwing the ‘woman’s spirit’ at her,” Namubiru said as she recounted the content of the footage reported on YouTube and Facebook by her organization. The woman later told Joshua that she no longer felt affection for her partner because of his intervention, Namubiru said.

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“In another person, a young man … is slapped several times, and his dreads are shaved before he testifies that he is no longer attracted to men,” Namubiru added.

YouTube has not issued a public statement on the matter. CNN tried to contact YouTube for comment, but was unsuccessful.

CNN saw an email sent to OpenDemocracy on April 13 by a YouTube spokesperson who said: “YouTube community rules prohibit hate speech and we remove flagged videos and comments that violate these policies. In this case, we closed the channel … We reviewed the videos reported to us and took the appropriate measures, which led to the termination of the channel. ”

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Emmanuel TV, the church’s broadcasting arm, is broadcast in Africa on DSTV – a satellite service owned by South African company MultiChoice.

SCOAN plays host to dozens of international guests and local celebrities, who visit the worship center for prayers.

In 2011, Joshua was listed by Forbes as the third richest pastor in Nigeria, with an estimated net worth of $ 10 million to $ 15 million.

In a statement posted on Facebook last week, TB Joshua Ministries said it would appeal YouTube’s decision to suspend its channel.

“Emmanuel TV’s mission is to share God’s love with everyone – regardless of race or religion – and we strongly oppose all forms of hate speech! We have had a long and fruitful relationship with YouTube and we believe that this decision was taken in a hurry … we are making every effort to appeal this decision and to see the channel restored, “the statement said.

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The Lagos Mega-Church has also called on millions of followers to protest on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube – against YouTube.

Reacting to Joshua’s doctrinal methods, a spokesman for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella body of Christian groups in the country, told CNN that the association “does not interfere with the way churches are run or the way which individuals operate their centers of worship. “

The YouTube sanction brings a big blow to Joshua, whose ministries and humanitarian activities in different parts of the world are presented on the popular video platform.

Joshua rose to prominence in the late 1990’s after the boom of the “gospel of prosperity” – a Pentecostal doctrine that depends on good health and financial blessing on the depth of faith that a person can demonstrate.

However, he suffered national infamy in 2014 after a building at SCOAN headquarters collapsed, killing more than 100 people – most of whom were foreigners from South Africa, according to Chinese state media, CCTV reported.

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