Rumours spreading on social media claim that Facebook has banned the Lord’s Prayer. Such rumours urge readers to post the prayer to their timeline.
An example of the rumour as it appears on social media can be seen below.
THIS IS SO SAD. ……. After hearing Facebook is saying that posting the Lord’s Prayer goes against their policies, I’m asking all Christians to please post the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever.
❤️ Amen
The claim is false, as is demonstrable by the Lord’s Prayer appearing numerous times on the platform, most of which have been on the platform unhindered for many years.
Claims that Facebook is removing certain types of content – including religion content – are popular, and are often designed to deceptively garner engagement (i.e. like farming) or to create faux outrage to promote a particular narrative.
For example, posts have circulating previously that falsely claimed Facebook is removing images of the Nativity scene, as well as certain types of military emblems. Both claims were baseless, as is this one.
We rank the claim that Facebook is removing the Lord’s Prayer as false.