Tennessee pastor banned from Twitter says he's being censored for 'dropping gospel bombs'
MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WZTV) — A controversial pastor in Middle Tennessee who has repeatedly been accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 says he's been permanently banned from Twitter.
In a live Facebook video, Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church said Tuesday his ministry's attorney has filed a class-action lawsuit against the social media giant he calls "censorship Nazis."
Locke said after 12 years of being on the platform and gaining more than 100,000 followers, Twitter has banned him for being a "danger" and for dropping "gospel, political, and biblical bombs." He says he's the first pastor to be banned from the site.
"Guess who's not banned? The Taliban," he said in the video. "Are you awake yet, sheep? Wake up. Use your brain, use your Bible, get a backbone."
The Mt. Juliet pastor has made headlines several times since the coronavirus pandemic began and has been accused of spreading misinformation. Just this summer, he called the Delta variant of COVID-19 "nonsense," and said he'd turn away people from his church if they showed up wearing masks.
Locke has previously called the COVID-19 vaccine "sugar water" and said the pandemic is "fake."
RELATED: Middle Tennessee pastor calls Delta variant nonsense, will turn away people who wear masks
In July, an infectious disease expert with Vanderbilt University Medical Center told FOX 17 News it's troubling to see people spread misinformation about social distancing, wearing masks or getting vaccinated.
"When we see people who are in leadership positions in their community, telling people not to wear masks or not to worry about social distancing or not to get vaccinated, it’s troubling," Dr. David Aronoff said. "It’s very similar to someone in a leadership position telling someone to drink and drive. Why would they do that...It’s really contrary to good public health sense."
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