California pastor Mario Murillo said that online censorship had become so terrible that he could no longer overlook the issue.
Since its debut nine years ago, the "mariomurilloministries" blog has been a staunch advocate for Christ's cause and a source of Biblical insight into contemporary events.
However, when Facebook launched its new algorithm, which included the capacity to block what it deems as harmful content, or content that it doesn't agree with, the technology was utilized against conservative and Christian-owned or Christian-hosted content and published works, perhaps as a result of political motivations.
When Murillo, the author, posted a blog entry on his Facebook page, he discovered that the social media was preventing 90% of people who read his blog from seeing it. Only ten percent of his followers are aware that a new blog article has been published.
Consequently, they issued a challenge to see how far Facebook's algorithm would go to prevent people from seeing his blog. They found that when there is a large number of views and likes, the algorithm slows down.
"Yesterday the blog was shared 1,277 times, but Facebook says that only 2,278 people read it," Murillo explained. "That means that for every time it was shared, 1.78 people read it."
Murillo issued a call to his supporters to share the blog entry on Facebook simultaneously, so that the social media website's algorithm can receive a pushback.
"Then we issued the challenge. Today, that ratio suddenly jumped from 1.78 to 5. That is nearly triple the number of readers per share."
Following that description, Murillo goes on to explain how the assault on his blog, which is comparable to other Christian blogs or websites, began with minor problems. This escalated to the point that shadowbanning, or the act of allowing a user to post but not showing the post to others without the author's knowledge, became worse.
Why Facebook does it
"They are no doubt emboldened by their victory in bringing us the puppet government of Biden," says Murillo.
He suspects that Facebook considered the blog's content and reputation as a threat. It was getting close to a total of 16 million views, 3 million views of these in 2021, before Facebook started to ban it.
Numerous Christian leaders started to read the blog on a regular basis as a means of gaining a better grasp of what was happening and how to fight it. Because of its effectiveness, Murillo comes to the conclusion that the blog is being targeted.
As long as tyranny exists, Murillo thinks that blogs like his will continue to play an important part in the fight against it. Because, if it isn't, what is it about his blog that both Satan and the Big Tech want to clamp down?
"Because it is a threat and speaks the truth about this illegitimate administration and its agenda!" Murillo declared.
A piece of advice to bypass algorithm
"Read it. Share it. Like it."
Murillo believes it's worth a try as per their own experience when they challenged the figures projected by Facebook's algorithm.
"The social media giant has a big weakness-a weakness we must try to exploit, at least once," he said. "The algorithm backs off when there is a sudden ground swell of support. If enough people read this blog, share this blog, and like it, all at one time, FB will back off."
Murillo, of course, isn't naïve as to dismiss other possibilities. He said that if his blog has reached the end of its usefulness, it would be wise for him to divert his attention elsewhere, but first he wants to know.
"If you believe this blog has run its course, then just sit this out. I will totally understand. If there is no major uptick in response after laying it out so clearly that will show me that this is not just Facebook," he said.
"But, if you believe the blog is worth saving, then I am asking you this one time-and this one time only-to let me know that you are fighting with me against this tyranny. I need you to talk with others and let them know what is at stake in this," he added.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Murillo, being the bold person that he is, doesn't feel like he's on the losing end. His challenge is meant to urge Christians to take action to share his blogs if they believe that his message has to be heard. It's a wake-up call to those who say they follow Christ amid the current political and spiritual climate.
He specifically indicated that over 90% of his readers are on Facebook, the same platform that shadowbans his posts. He said in a new blog entry that his email list has 17,807 names, as compared to the 204,052 followers he has on Facebook. For this reason, he is urging Christians to challenge its algorithm, so that more people can read his messages.
Mario Murillo's blog entries are very timely and they carry very important messages to the Christian church at this time of rampant anti-Christian censorship, anti-church policies, anti-Bible legislation, and anti-God remarks. Readers are encouraged to visit his blog and share it to their friends.
