Pinterest labels Live Action’s pro-life content as ‘porn,’ then permanently deletes account

June 11, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Pinterest permanently suspended Live Action’s account early Tuesday morning after first tagging the site as “pornography” and then claiming the pro-life group’s content violated its policy on “misinformation.”

“We don’t allow harmful misinformation on Pinterest. That includes medical misinformation and conspiracies that turn individuals and facilities into targets for harassment and violence,” the Pinterest message read.

Live Action’s Alison Centofante, director of external affairs for Live Action tweeted the news later that day:

Pinterest’s move followed revelations that a high-level Pinterest employee put LiveAction.org on the list of blocked pornography sites in February 2019, as Centofante tweeted out also on Tuesday: 

“Because 'https://LiveAction.org' was added to the list of pornographic sites, users cannot create pins that link to 'https://LiveAction.org .' Live Action has the largest and most active online following in the pro-life movement, with over 3.3 million followers,” Centofante tweeted.

James O’Keefe of Project Veritas investigated Pinterest’s alleged blocking Live Action as a porn site based on information from a Pinterest whistleblower, Live Action reported.

Live Action employees confirmed that “as of Sunday,” they could not create pins linking to LiveAction.org.

“Only on Monday, after Project Veritas reached out to Pinterest letting them know of the whistleblower’s claims and asking for comment, were pins able to link to LiveAction.org,” it reported.

And then suddenly today without warning, Pinterest suspended Live Action’s account.

The Project Veritas report alleges that Megan McClellan, Pinterest’s Law Enforcement and Government Operations (LEGO) Program Manager, placed LiveAction.org on the porn domain blacklist.

It also documents that there was an appeal in late May that Live Action be removed from the porn domain blacklist, and that one Pinterest employee, Genet Girmay, stated in an online thread: “I don’t think it should be…” and another, Carina Iverson, advised it was best to follow up with the person “that initially blocked the domain to see if there was a specific reason other than it was abortion content.”

Live Action founder Lila Rose blasted Pinterest in a press release for putting her organization's website on the porn domain block list.

“Based on the evidence provided, it appears that Pinterest intentionally added ‘LiveAction.org’ to a ‘pornography’ blocklist in an effort to suppress our pro-life content from being shared on the platform,” she said. 

“By secretly applying the label of 'pornography' to Live Action’s pro-life content, Pinterest demonstrates a concerted effort to sideline a leading pro-life organization the only way they knew how. This does not appear to be a simple mistake. When confronted with an appeal, their employees doubled down and kept LiveAction.org on the pornography list. What exactly is Pinterest attempting to block? Inspirational messages to pregnant mothers, ultrasound images showing the science of prenatal development, medically accurate information on the abortion procedure, and images saying women deserve better than abortion industry leader Planned Parenthood,” she continued. 

“Pinterest has targeted Live Action, I believe, because our message is so effective at educating millions about the humanity of the preborn child and the injustice of abortion. Pinterest says that their mission is to “help empower people to discover things that they love,” but despite the fact that millions of people love babies and the pro-life cause, they are secretly censoring our life-affirming messages. Pinterest users deserve to know the truth and our messages deserve to be treated fairly. If Planned Parenthood can promote their message on Pinterest, then Live Action should be able to as well,” she added. 

Rose also commented about Live Action's Pinterest account being permanently suspended while abortion accounts remain untouched. 

“Pinterest Logic: You can freely pin if you’re Planned Parenthood, an abortion provider. But if you’re a pro-life group & pin about the beauty & humanity of a baby in the womb, you’re banned and seen as a threat to 'Pinner’s health or safety,'” she said. 

At least one Live Action critic denounced Pinterest for censorship.

“While I oppose Live Action with every fiber of my being, I don’t support this social media ban,” tweeted Dr. Eugene Gu. “What happens if Pinterest or any other site is bought out by Republicans? They can do the same thing right back. I hate having to defend my enemy but social media censorship is wrong.”