''LifeSiteNews'' (or simply ''LifeSite'') is a Canadian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

anti-abortion advocacy website and news publication. ''LifeSiteNews'' has published misleading information and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

, and in 2021, was banned from some social media platforms for spreading

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagin ...

History

''LifeSiteNews'' was founded in 1997 by the Canadian political

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

organization Campaign Life Coalition with the intent to promote anti-abortion views. At a 2013 March for Life Youth Conference in Ottawa, founder and editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen alleged there was a media conspiracy against the anti-abortion movement, and said that the purpose of ''LifeSiteNews'' was to circumvent the mainstream media. A Catholic priest and former member of the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

, Raymond Gravel, filed a defamation lawsuit in Quebec against the website in 2011. He claimed that the site's description of his self-described pro-choice views as "pro-abortion" was libelous, and sought in damages. ''LifeSiteNews'' had published 41 articles about Gravel as of February 2013. In 2013, the lawsuit was allowed to advance to trial by a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

court. Gravel died of lung cancer on August 11, 2014. ''LifeSiteNews'' claimed in 2018 to have a readership of 20million. Its editor-in-chief is John-Henry Westen, and the president is Steve Jalsevac. The Campaign Life Coalition no longer runs ''LifeSiteNews'', though the two groups share some board members.

Content and views

''LifeSiteNews'' was founded for the purpose of opposing legal abortion, and that remains a primary focus. It also regularly publishes articles expressing opposition to

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

, homosexuality, and

transgender rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...

, and its website names euthanasia and

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

among other issues it opposes. A Catholic publication, many of its articles are faith-related. It has published many articles critical of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, and regularly publishes writing by critics of Francis including Italian archbishop, former Vatican diplomat, and conspiracy theorist

Carlo Maria Viganò Carlo Maria Viganò (; born 16 January 1941) is an archbishop of the Catholic Church who served as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from 19 October 2011 to 12 April 2016. He previously served as Secretary-General of the Governorate of ...

and Cardinal Raymond Burke. ''LifeSiteNews'' has been described as far-right,

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

, and ultraconservative. Fact-checking website

Snopes ''Snopes'' , formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source f ...

described ''LifeSiteNews'' in 2016 as "a known purveyor of misleading information". Paul Moses wrote for '' Commonweal'' in 2021 that ''LifeSiteNews'' coverage "feigns journalistic accuracy, but misleads through omission". The Canadian Anti-Hate Network described the website in a 2021 report as a "Christian version of ''Breitbart''". Political Research Associates analyst Heron Greenesmith categorized ''LifeSiteNews'' to

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

in September 2019 as a member of the " Christian-right anti-transgender disinformation ecosystem" and stated, "''LifeSite'' platforms the small number of anti-trans researchers, academics, and right-wing professional associations, giving their work a veneer of scientific validity". Brennan Suen of the watchdog group

Media Matters for America Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media ...

said that ''LifeSite'' "typically refuses to acknowledge transgender identities and serially misgenders trans folk in its coverage", and that it "refers to the abhorrent practice of

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...

as treating 'unwanted homosexual attraction.'" Moses wrote in ''Commonweal'' that the site spread confusion about COVID-19, and that their coverage "is so slanted that anyone relying on it would be terribly misled on what the science shows". ''LifeSiteNews'' regularly publishes

. The site has published misleading claims about

Donald Trump's Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and articles supportive of the "

Stop the Steal After Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, then-incumbent Donald Trump pursued an unprecedented effort to overturn the election, with support and assistance from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of h ...

" campaign with the same goal. Some articles on the website use the tag " New World Order", the name of a conspiracy theory which hypothesizes a secretly emerging

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

world government. ''LifeSiteNews'' has published misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. In November 2022, ''LifeSiteNews'' promoted the

anti-vaccine Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

film ''Died Suddenly''.

Social media bans

''LifeSiteNews''' Twitter accounts have been temporarily suspended at least four times since 2018; once in error, twice for violating rules against "targeted

misgendering Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

deadnaming Deadnaming is the act of referring to a transgender or non-binary person by a name they used prior to transitioning, such as their birth name. Deadnaming may be unintentional, or a deliberate attempt to deny, mock or invalidate a person's g ...

of transgender individuals", and once for violating rules against spreading COVID-19 misinformation. ''LifeSiteNews'''

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel was banned in February 2021 for persistently promoting COVID-19 misinformation. One video claimed that COVID-19 was "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public". Another promoted anti-vaccine sentiment, cast doubt on the efficacy of

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

, and stated that COVID-19 "isn't really killing people right and left that weren't probably gonna die within the year anyway". These claims contradicted the scientific consensus and reports from authorities like the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

, and violated YouTube policies on promotion of health misinformation. ''LifeSiteNews'' was permanently banned from

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

in May 2021 for violations of policies prohibiting COVID-19 misinformation. According to ''LifeSiteNews'', Facebook said the ban was related to their policy of removing anti-vaccination accounts, and a Facebook spokesperson allegedly accused LifeSiteNews of disseminating "false information about COVID-19 that could contribute to physical harm". A joint statement signed by

, GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, and

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

said they had collected and reported to Facebook over 100 posts by ''LifeSiteNews'' that allegedly spread COVID-19 and vaccine-related misinformation. They added that they believed Facebook should have banned the group "years ago" for using the platform to "push its noxious anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice extremism".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:LifeSiteNews 1997 establishments in Canada 501(c)(3) organizations Abortion in media Advocacy groups in Canada Anti-abortion organizations in Canada Canadian news websites Catholic newspapers Conservative magazines published in Canada Conspiracist media COVID-19 misinformation Fake news websites Far-right politics in Canada Mass media in Toronto Organizations that oppose LGBT rights Websites with far-right material COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy

History

Content and views

Social media bans

See also

References

External links