A group of Evangelical Christians in Brazil has launched Facegloria, a “sin-free” social network where swearing and erotic content are absolutely banned.
Currently available only in Portuguese, the creators of Facegloria claim the site has attracted 100,000 members since its launch last month. The development of other languages services and the creation of a mobile app are on the agenda.
Facegloria: where religion and technology intertwine
Statistics show that Brazil has the world’s largest Roman Catholic population, which may explain why the social network has gotten people’s attention.
“On Facebook you see a lot of violence and pornography. That’s why we thought of creating a network where we could talk about God, love and to spread His word,” web designer and company’s founder Atilla Barros told AFP.
Although it’s an open social network, Facebook’s terms of service bans content that is considered “hate speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.” Facegloria, however, promises a “clean virtual environment,” and is intended for those who want to make “social networking a reflection of their Christian life.”
A “clean virtual environment” versus open network
“Our network is global. We have bought the Faceglory domain in English and in all possible languages. We want to take on Facebook and Twitter here and everywhere,” Barros said.
The site forbids gay material, 600 words, and users must use the “Amen” button for expressing appreciation for a post. On Facegloria, you can’t swear, criticise religious leaders, post anything even vaguely sexual or violent, without violating “Biblical principles”.
A team of 20 volunteer moderators makes sure that rules are being followed
According to the Washigton Post, if on the surface the approach would almost appear to work, if you dig deeper into Facegloria’s underbelly, “you’ll find signs that the network can’t, in all likelihood, continue on like this”.
Moderating a large community with such strict standards would require a massive workforce, which the social platform currently doesn’t have. As an experiment, reporter Caitlin Dewey, posted “God is dead” on the social media platform, yet didn’t hear anything from Facegloria’s team for over an hour.
Similar to Facegloria, other social networks such as Ummaland have been developed for religious enthusiasts. The site, which was launched in 2013 currently has around 329,000 members.
For more interesting technology-related news, check out the Clapway Trends review of Pavlok:
Is Facegloria "Morally and Technically Better Than Facebook"?
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