'Ex-gay' pastor can't sue Vimeo for removing church's account, appeals court rules

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Follow | Monday, March 15, 2021 (Photo: Flickr Commons/Joe Gratz) A federal appellate court has ruled that an ex-gay Southern California pastor and his Christian ministry cannot take legal action against the online video hosting platform Vimeo after his account was removed for promoting “sexual orientation change efforts.”The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled last week that Pastor James Domen and his Church United cannot sue Vimeo due to the company’s immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which Big Tech companies often use to evade liability for content on their websites.The Second Circuit agreed with U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart Aaron’s January 2020 decision that Vimeo deleted the church’s account because it violated the platform’s content policies barring the promotion of “SOCE,” which is often derisively called “conversion therapy.”“This policy, in turn, fell within the confines of the good-faith content policing immunity that the CDA provides to interactive computer services,” the Second Circuit opinion authored by U.S. Circuit Judge Rosemary S. Pooler states. Domen, who is now has a wife and kids, alleges he “was a homosexual” for three years. But “because of his desire to pursue his faith in…
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