LifeSiteNews

[[File:LifeSiteNews logo.png|thumb|165px|Life is a [[conspiracy]].]]{{conspiracy}}
{{cquote|LifeSiteNews is a superspreader of [[fake news|confusion]], not an antidote. In tightly written prose, it mimics [[journalism]] by reporting on scientific data and studies, but [[cherry picking|so selectively]] as to be highly misleading. The takeaways from this skewed coverage include: don’t wear [[face masks]]; don’t get a [[COVID-19]] vaccine; view the pandemic as a [[New World Order|tool of the elite to achieve global political domination]].|||Paul Moses, Commonweal Magazine, 2021<ref name=commonweal>Paul Moses, [https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/sins-omission Sins of Omission: Far-right Catholic media spreads COVID-19 misinformation.] Commonweal, 13 March 2021.</ref>}}

'''LifeSiteNews''' is a [[Canada|Canadian]] [[far right]] [[webshite]] that propagates [[fake news|misleading information]], [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], and virulent [[anti-abortion]] [[propaganda]].<ref name=mbfc>[https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/life-site-news/ 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."</ref> 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.<ref>Paul Saurette and Kelly Gordon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HRn8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q&f=false The Changing Voice of the Anti-Abortion Movement]. University of Toronto Press, ISBN 9781442615694.</ref>{{rp|172}}

They also publish material railing against [[contraception]], [[LGBT rights|homosexuality, and transgender rights]]. To push their agenda, they promote conspiracy theories and flagrant [[bullshit]].<ref name=canadaland>[https://www.canadaland.com/lifesitenews-biggest-canadian-far-right-site-you-havent-heard-of/ 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.</ref><ref name=vanityfair>Kathryn Joyce, [https://archive.is/GiyBu Deep State, Deep Church: How Qanon and Trumpism have infected the Catholic Church]. Archived from Vanity Fair, 30 October 2020.</ref> In 2015, they joined [[wingnut]] publication [[World Net Daily]] and published an interview with Zachary King, who claimed that he performed "[[satanism|satanic]] [[satanic ritual abuse|rituals]]" inside abortion clinics.<ref>[https://archive.is/yZ98Y Former Satanist: ‘I performed satanic rituals inside abortion clinics’] Archived from LifeSiteNews, 9 September 2015.</ref> They have a long history of publishing conspiracy theories related to [[Planned Parenthood]], their ultimate bogeyman, finding common ground with [[QAnon]].<ref>Sarah Posner, [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/qanon-planned-parenthood-1144575/ QAnon and the Assault on Planned Parenthood]. Rolling Stone, 25 March 2021.</ref> In 2019, they published a story claiming that drugs used to treat [[gender dysphoria]] in transgender children are linked to “thousands” of deaths.<ref>Martin M. Barillas, [https://web.archive.org/web/20191001051814/https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/thousands-of-deaths-linked-to-puberty-blockers-for-gender-confused-kids Thousands of deaths linked to drugs used as puberty blockers for gender-confused kids]. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 24 September 2019.</ref><ref>Tim Fitzsimmons, [https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/viral-fake-news-story-linked-trans-healthcare-thousands-deaths-n1059831 A viral fake news story linked trans health care to 'thousands' of deaths]. NBC News, 27 September 2019.</ref>

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]].<ref name=canadaland /><ref name=vanityfair /><ref>Ali Swenson, [https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-9954662940 Skewed data fuel questionable claim on Trump election lawsuits]. Associated Press, 12 February 2021.</ref> In 2020, the site published a screed written by a [[crank]]y Cardinal that alleges a [[deep state]] conspiracy associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 racial unrest.<ref>[https://archive.is/7GaPY Archbishop Viganò‘s powerful letter to President Trump: Eternal struggle between good and evil playing out right now]. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 6 June 2020.</ref> Many articles on the site are explicitly tagged with "[[New World Order]]", another favorite of the [[paranoid]] conspiracy crowd.<ref name=canadaland /> 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."<ref>[https://archive.is/5Xu7O Who owns Big Pharma + Big Media? You’ll never guess]. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 21 June 2021.</ref>

[[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.<ref>Carter Sherman, [https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3v5mx/youtube-just-banned-a-popular-anti-abortion-channel-for-covid-conspiracies YouTube Just Banned a Popular Anti-Abortion Channel for COVID Conspiracies]. Vice, 11 February 2021.</ref><ref>Brianna January, [https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/youtube-banned-lifesitenews-covid-19-and-vaccine-disinformation-same-lies-are-all-over YouTube banned LifeSiteNews for COVID-19 and vaccine disinformation. The same lies are all over Facebook.] Media Matters, 18 February 2021.</ref> [[Facebook]] similarly kickbanned them in May 2021 for repeatedly violating its policies regarding COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation.<ref>Elizabeth Bibi, [https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/media-matters-glaad-human-rights-campaign-and-naral-react-to-facebooks-permanent-ban-of-lifesitenews Media Matters, GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, and NARAL react to Facebook’s permanent ban of LifeSiteNews]. Media Matters, 7 May 2021.</ref><ref>Jack Jenkins, [https://religionnews.com/2021/05/05/lifesitenews-removed-from-facebook-for-violating-covid-19-misinformation-policies/ LifeSiteNews removed from Facebook for violating COVID-19 misinformation policies]. Religion News Service, 5 May 2021.</ref> They have earned temporary bans from [[Twitter]] on multiple occasions, including tweeting an article that [[Demonization|demonized]] homosexuals by citing a rise in [[sexually transmitted disease]]s,<ref>Trudy Ring, [https://www.advocate.com/media/2018/10/19/right-wing-site-blocked-twitter-laughably-antigay-article Right-Wing Site Blocked From Twitter for Laughably Antigay Article]. The Advocate, 19 October 2018.</ref> and for spreading COVID-19 misinformation and lies.<ref>Calvin Freiberger, [https://archive.is/FCWUy Twitter suspends LifeSite for covering Israeli COVID vaccine data]. Archived from LifeSiteNews, 2 March 2021.</ref>

In 2025, LifeSiteNews was found to be part of a smear campaign by ultraconservative [[Catholic]]s in an effort to elect a conservative pope following the death of [[Pope Francis]]. The site ran an article where they unearthed a video of Filipino cardinal {{wpl|Luis Antonio Tagle}} singing a cover of "Imagine" by [[John Lennon]] and spuriously insinuated that Tagle was apparently condoning the song's [[atheist]]ic message.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Munster |first1=Ben |last2=Roberts |first2=Hannah |date=1 May 2025 |title=The ultra conservatives wanting to make the Vatican great again |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/vaticans-church-catholic-pope-francis-hard-right/ |access-date=12 May 2025 |website=Politico}}</ref> It turns out that the cover in question was an abridged version where Tagle omitted the more controversial verses and reframed the song to his ideology as he was simply drawn to its message of world peace and brotherhood.<ref>{{cite news|last=McFall|first=Marni Rose|date=8 May 2025|title=Pope Favorite Sings John Lennon 'Imagine' In Unearthed 2019 Video|url=https://www.newsweek.com/pope-favorite-cardinal-luis-antonio-tagle-imagine-john-lennon-video-conclave-2069724|work=Newsweek|access-date=6 June 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-16 |title=Luis Antonio Cardinal G. Tagle's IMAGINE (Beatles) [sic] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIvrKh4geH4 |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/taglelennon |archive-date=2025-06-21 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Tagle's supporters, particularly younger generations who were also drawn to the then papal candidate, came to his defence with one user commenting: "The guy sang a song about world peace. If that’s really the most dirt you can dig up on him, he’d make an excellent pope."<ref name="taglecore">{{Cite web |date=2025-05-07 |title=Behind the memeification of the conclave and the viral ‘Tagle core’ |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/behind-memeification-conclave-viral-tagle-142814817.html |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References==
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[[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]]

Categories: Abortion, Anti-vaccination movement, Canadian media, Canadians, Catholicism, Conspiracy theorists, Clogosphere, Fake news, Homophobia, Pseudoscience promoting organizations, Propaganda, Webshites, Trumpism