PolitiFact – Recirculated video recycles false claim that California moved to outlaw the Bible

A video shared in a June 28 Facebook post claimed California is taking steps to officially outlaw the Bible.

“Bibles banned in California moves one step closer to evil reality,” read the video’s caption.

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The post misleadingly suggests that legislative action in California is new, but the bill mentioned came before the state’s legislature in April 2018. 

That year, the California Assembly approved a bill that would have strictly limited programs that aim to change a person’s sexual orientation. The legislation, which did not become law, would have banned any “advertising, offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual.” It also would have amended the state’s consumer protection law, which covers such things as false advertising and selling defective goods. 

So, the prohibition would have applied only  when money changed hands for a service called “sexual orientation change efforts.” Some supporters of the bill pointed to the Bible’s references to homosexuality to claim the bill could ban sales of the Bible.

The Facebook post’s footage is from Next News Network, and it is the latest example of old footage from that network being misleadingly reshared as if it were current events. 

Next News Network is a site the Chicago Tribune reported promotes conspiracies and it was recently demonetized by YouTube.

We rate the claim that “Bibles banned in California moves one step closer to evil reality” False.

RELATED: California fact-checks

RELATED: Religion fact-checks