Why Faith Groups have a Mixed Relationship with Facebook

Still, my appreciation for Facebook is mixed with a healthy amount of suspicion and even disgust. In that way, I resemble many of the faith leaders I’ve written about over the years. Like me, they’ve found ways to use the good parts of Facebook for their benefit and for the benefit of their religious communities. Also like me, they’ve grown concerned about the way the site shepherds personal data and deals with fearmongers and conspiracy theorists. After a whistleblower came forward in 2021 and accused Facebook of putting profits over safety concerns, some religious organizations cut ties with the site, as I previously reported for the Deseret News. But many others felt like they needed to keep using it, in part because they were using Facebook to livestream worship services during the pandemic.