Facebook, Instagram Block All Posts Promoting Gay Conversion Therapy

Instagram and Facebook will ban content that is related to the gay conversion therapy on the social media platforms. Facebook said it will extend its existing hate speech policy around the world to include posts that support or encourage the activity in a step that extends to all platforms.

The main aim of 'Conversion Therapy' is to change a person's sexuality. It is condemned as harmful by major medical associations. But it is legal in other parts of the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Tara Hopkins, Instagram’s public policy director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in a statement to CNN said, “We will not allow attacks on individuals on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and are reviewing our policy to ban the marketing of conversion therapy services.”

She further added that Instagram had withdrawn posts from a religious group in the UK called the Core Issues Trust which supported conversion therapy. She said that “We have removed the violating content from @coreissuestrusttv. We are still updating our policies and will continue to work with experts and people with personal experience to advise our approach."

Conversion therapy is banned or deemed unconstitutional in at least 19 US states to protect minors, but it remains legal at the federal level in the US. It has also been practiced in other regions of Europe. According to the scientific studies the gay conversion therapy leads to depression, drug use and some youth commit suicide without their consent.

The main aim of Conversion Therapy content Ban is to shut down organizations in Africa, Europe, the United States and other regions that are attempting to advertise or encourage online practice. Germany is the only country where conversion therapy is banned.

Bloomberg reported that Facebook is reportedly considering a ban on political ads before the US elections this year. According to the reports, US President Donald Trump and former Vice President and presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden spent a combined $29.2 million on ads over the past 90 days.