Recently, a close friend wanted me to hear a spiritual message from a pastor we listen to now and then, Jack Hibbs.  Within a day of receiving the link from her, I clicked on it and got that message that tells you the video you are trying to see has been blocked.  Hmmm.

A few days later, I decided to go to Jack Hibbs's YouTube channel, "Real Life with Jack Hibbs."  I got the same message of doom, communicating that the whole channel was blocked.  Since I hadn't heard any announcement via email from Hibbs, I thought that maybe it was one of those temporary glitches.

And then, a few days after the above, I saw Hibbs's headline: "Urgent! Please watch this video: https://vimeo.com/801741601."  I took the few minutes to watch it, thinking it might be something having to do with the Middle East or some other crisis area, of which there are many worldwide.

No, it was something just as serious: YouTube took down Hibbs's YouTube channel and is keeping all of his material, on the flimsiest of charges, which they will not explain or speak with him about.  He is being stonewalled as well as censored.

I admit that I am surprised that it took this long for Jack to get it that YouTube is not our friend and, as a part of the Google empire, is particularly hostile to people of faith and of common sense, conservative conviction.

Another pastor we listen to is J.D. Farag of Calvary Chapel, Kaneohe, Hawaii.  Well over a year ago, Pastor Farag realized that YouTube was no friend, and so he set his church up to "broadcast" his sermons from their own website, bypassing the censorship of Big Tech. Ingeniously, he leaves the first 10–20 minutes of his sermons on YouTube and arranges his content so that the early portion of the sermon doesn't attract the notice of the YouTube censors.  Then he stops the YouTube and Facebook streams and urges the listeners to go to his website, where he is free to speak what is on his mind.

It outrages me that Google soon took Pastor Farag's app icon out of the play store.  Lately, as I have tried to listen to him on my Pixel (Google) phone, it stopped and started annoyingly.  So I changed to my Samsung tablet, and the video played smoothly, with no interruption.  The same happened with the above video by Hibbs.  It barely played on my Pixel phone, stalling out for several minutes frequently, so I switched to my desktop, and it played without a hitch.  I really believe that Google is censoring or shadowbanning in this most underhanded way!

This is no yawning matter, I believe.  This is an intensification of the war against us.  No longer should we play on the enemy's playing field.  Why have so many on our side stuck with YouTube and Facebook?  For numbers!  It's time we use our heads and take advantage of the several platforms that formed in protest against Big Tech and that will allow us to speak our minds.

What are we waiting for?

Image: Pezibear via Pixabay, Pixabay License.