LifeSiteNews

LifeSiteNews is a Canadian far right webshite that propagates misleading information, conspiracy theories, and virulent anti-abortion propaganda.LifeSiteNews profile. Media Bias/Fact Check, 8 June 2021. "We rate LifeSiteNews far right biased for story selection that always favors evangelical Christianity and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and many failed fact checks." In 2021, they were banned from several social media platforms for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
LifeSiteNews was formed in 1997 by the Canadian lobbyist organization Campaign Life Coalition to spew anti-abortion propaganda. Founder John Henry Westin claimed that the mainstream media was involved in a conspiracy against the anti-abortion movement, and that LifeSiteNews served to circumvent the mainstream media.Paul Saurette and Kelly Gordon, The Changing Voice of the Anti-Abortion Movement. University of Toronto Press, ISBN 9781442615694.
They also publish material railing against contraception, homosexuality, and transgender rights. To push their agenda, they promote conspiracy theories and flagrant bullshit.The biggest Canadian far-right news site you probably haven’t heard of: LifeSiteNews, where Catholicism meets QAnon. Canadian Anti-Hate Network, 22 February 2021.Kathryn Joyce, Deep State, Deep Church: How Qanon and Trumpism have infected the Catholic Church. Archived from Vanity Fair, 30 October 2020. In 2015, they joined wingnut publication World Net Daily and published an interview with Zachary King, who claimed that he performed "satanic rituals" inside abortion clinics.Former Satanist: ‘I performed satanic rituals inside abortion clinics’ Archived from LifeSiteNews, 9 September 2015. They have a long history of publishing conspiracy theories related to Planned Parenthood, their ultimate bogeyman, finding common ground with QAnon.Sarah Posner, QAnon and the Assault on Planned Parenthood. Rolling Stone, 25 March 2021. In 2019, they published a story claiming that drugs used to treat gender dysphoria in transgender children are linked to “thousands” of deaths.Martin M. Barillas, Thousands of deaths linked to drugs used as puberty blockers for gender-confused kids. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 24 September 2019.Tim Fitzsimmons, A viral fake news story linked trans health care to 'thousands' of deaths. NBC News, 27 September 2019.
Unsurprisingly, LifeSiteNews is a supporter of former US President Donald Trump, and has spread misleading claims about Trump's attempts to overthrow the 2020 U.S. presidential election.Ali Swenson, Skewed data fuel questionable claim on Trump election lawsuits. Associated Press, 12 February 2021. In 2020, the site published a screed written by a cranky Cardinal that alleges a deep state conspiracy associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 racial unrest.Archbishop Viganò‘s powerful letter to President Trump: Eternal struggle between good and evil playing out right now. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 6 June 2020. Many articles on the site are explicitly tagged with "New World Order", another favorite of the paranoid conspiracy crowd. One of the "New World Order" articles posted by LifeSiteNews is a verbose, conspiracy filled rant by American conspiracy theorist and quack Joseph Mercola about Big Pharma, where he alleges that "Big Pharma" and the mainstream media are largely owned by two asset management companies, and that these two companies form a "secret monopoly" that "own just about everything else you can think of too."Who owns Big Pharma + Big Media? You’ll never guess. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 21 June 2021.
YouTube banned LifeSiteNews in February 2021 for repeatedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines against it, in violation of YouTube's medical misinformation policy.Carter Sherman, YouTube Just Banned a Popular Anti-Abortion Channel for COVID Conspiracies. Vice, 11 February 2021.Brianna January, YouTube banned LifeSiteNews for COVID-19 and vaccine disinformation. The same lies are all over Facebook. Media Matters, 18 February 2021. Facebook similarly kickbanned them in May 2021 for repeatedly violating its policies regarding COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation.Elizabeth Bibi, Media Matters, GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, and NARAL react to Facebook’s permanent ban of LifeSiteNews. Media Matters, 7 May 2021.Jack Jenkins, LifeSiteNews removed from Facebook for violating COVID-19 misinformation policies. Religion News Service, 5 May 2021. They have earned temporary bans from Twitter on multiple occasions, including tweeting an article that demonized homosexuals by citing a rise in sexually transmitted diseases,Trudy Ring, Right-Wing Site Blocked From Twitter for Laughably Antigay Article. The Advocate, 19 October 2018. and for spreading COVID-19 misinformation and lies.Calvin Freiberger, Twitter suspends LifeSite for covering Israeli COVID vaccine data. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 2 March 2021.
==References==
Category:Abortion
Category:Anti-vaccination movement
Category:Canadian media
Category:Canadians
Category:Catholicism
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Clogosphere
Category:Fake news
Category:Homophobia
Category:Pseudoscience promoting organizations
Category:Propaganda
Category:Webshites
Category:Trumpism