Does Facebook hate Catholics? Facebook is shutting down, censoring Catholic websites

Catholic Online has been included in the list of sites previously blocked.

Facebook censored over a dozen popular Catholic pages on Monday, including several with millions of followers. No explanation was given for why the pages were blocked. An outcry has prompted Facebook to restore the pages, but the reason for their removal remains unknown.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Facebook censored over a dozen popular Catholic webpages on Monday. Some of the pages have millions of followers on the social network. The pages as well as their administrator accounts were all blocked, leaving people bewildered as to why.

Pages such as Fr. Rocky's "Relevant Radio" with 4 million followers was blocked without explanation. Fr. Rocky could not even get into his personal account, nor could any of his fellow page admins, whose personal accounts were also blocked.

Facebook has no phone number to call, but it is possible for people to message Facebook even with blocked accounts. Fr. Rocky did so, and his personal account was restored. However, in his personal account there was a notice from Facebook informing him Relevant Radio had been banned.

Fr. Rocky's experience was similar to others that were banned on Monday. "Catholic and Proud" with six million followers was also banned, as was "Jesus and Mary" with 1.7 million followers.

By late Tuesday night, the pages were restored, but there is still no explanation from Facebook why they were blocked in the first place. No other sites seem to have been affected. Catholic Online was not included in the Monday night ban.

Facebook claims to have a network of 2 billion followers, but most of those accounts are alternate accounts or outright fakes. The actual number of users may be close to a billion. Most adult Americans have a Facebook account. The company, which is one of the richest in the world, has a virtual monopoly on social networking. Sites such as Twitter and SnapChat are considered social networks as well, but users are limited by what they can do.

The importance of Facebook as a tool for communication has been noticed by the courts in the U.S. and there is a growing impression that access to Facebook and social networking may be a right protected by the First Amendment. If so, then Facebook should not be able to arbitrarily ban accounts with impunity, as they have done thus far.

In 2015, Catholic Online was briefly targeted by hackers. While the attack was quickly suppressed, Facebook locked down the account. However, they also locked out all of the page administrators too, making it impossible to curate the page, similar to what happened on Monday. Despite calls and messages, nobody at Facebook responded to requests to unlock the account. The decision left 1.7 million of our followers in the dark for several months.

Eventually, after considering legal action and employing the help people connected to Facebook executives, the account was restored. No explanation for the lengthy restriction was ever given.

Millions of people rely on Facebook to deliver their news and information and connect to friends and family. This gives the social network incredible public influence. Some have warned the network has become an echo chamber, with its algorithms only serving content that people like, and insulating them from real news and contrary views. Facebook has also been caught suppressing conservative news and information.

With Facebook practically a monopoly, the time has come for the government to regulate it like any other public monopoly. A century ago, it was realized that some firms do things very well and competition is not always the best way to deliver goods and services. This is why electricity, phone, and cable services are monopolies. To compensate for their monopolistic power, these firms are regulated.

No social network can compete with Facebook, and it informs the opinions of millions of Americans. It is time to scrutinize the institution and to ensure all voices are treated fairly.