Pastor Jim Domen v. Vimeo

In the ongoing battle to allow conservative opinions and Christian voices to be heard, unfair bias and censorship on social media could be one of the most important legal issues in 2020.

On January 13, Advocates for Faith & Freedom’s attorney, Robert Tyler argued a religious freedom and discrimination case in New York federal court on behalf of our clients Jim Domen and Church United.

You might remember last year when Advocates took on the case against Vimeo, a video sharing platform, to fight against the increasing problem of social media sites discriminating against Christian views. In Church United’s case, several of their videos were removed by Vimeo because they contained the testimonies of “former” homosexuals who have left their former suicidal, drug and alcohol addictive, sexually abusive and harmful lifestyles for health, celibacy, traditional marriage, families and a life with Jesus Christ! Vimeo considers sharing their stories of love and redemption, hateful.

Disappointingly, after extensive oral arguments, the judge granted Vimeo’s Motion to Dismiss, shutting down our case.

The court ruled that the Communications Decency Act, enacted by Congress in 1996, effectively

 allows a social media platform to discriminate for unconscionable reasons. Based on the court’s ruling, a Christian would not be able to sue a social media platform even if there was clear evidence that the reason for canceling that individual’s account profile was because of their faith.

Advocates attorneys do not intend to sit still while our fellow Christians are silenced and God’s message of hope, freedom and love is suppressed. We are grateful for your prayers of support as we consider our next steps. 

We are your voice in the courts!  If you would like to support our important legal ministry, please Click Here to Donate.

Vimeo, an online company that hosts, shares and streams videos, has permanently terminated Church United’s account!

                Church United, was founded by Southern California Pastor, Jim Domen to awaken the church. The non-profit ministry’s main goal is to unite California’s churches to help pastors respond together to the spiritual problems threatening our communities and transform our government.
                Just before Christmas, Church United was given just 24 hours to download all 89 of their videos – 2 years’ worth – from their online account! The reason they gave was that 5 of the videos spoke of sexual orientation change efforts.  

                Under Vimeo’s community guidelines, videos that support such efforts are in violation of the “Community Agreement” and subject to termination. Vimeo’s statement read, “Your account has been removed by the Vimeo Staff for violating our Guidelines. Reason: Vimeo does not allow videos that harass, incite hatred, or include discriminatory or defamatory speech.”

                The fact is, none of Church United’s videos do any of that. What they do, is share a different opinion – a loving, biblical opinion.  Apparently, an opinion that Vimeo wants to stifle. 
 
                You may remember, in 2018, Assembly Bill 2493 was up for a vote in California’s state legislature. The bill would prohibit adults who experience unwanted same sex attraction from seeking professional therapy, calling it “fraud”.
 
                This is a clear violation of their constitutional rights! So, after tremendous citizen outrage led by church leaders, the Christian community, and former homosexuals who have been comforted, helped and even set free from their same sex attraction through the same therapy the law sought to ban, the bill was withdrawn.
(Photo: Pastor Domen (on left) and “changed” former homosexuals.)

                At this time, Advocates for Faith & Freedom, who would have represented Church United in a lawsuit had 2493 become law, is drafting a letter to Vimeo, asking them to reinstate Church United’s account.  If they don’t, we will file a lawsuit based on free speech and religious/sexual orientation discrimination.

            Please pray with us as we fight to bring Church United’s videos back so the world can see the amazing power of God’s love working in the LGBT community.  And, if you are able, please consider donating any amount to our important ministry of helping organizations like Church United fight these legal battles so they can continue their work in our churches and our culture.

Please Click Here if you would like to Donate