Social network Facegloria bans swearing, gay content, and sin

Need a social network to connect with friends and likeminded individuals? Take your pick; there are dozens to choose from. Facebook remains by far the most popular and, as it is used by real people, it is filled with everything that makes up life -- the good and the bad. In response, a group of Evangelical Christians in Brazil set up Facegloria with the aim of becoming "morally and technically better than Facebook".

Actually the real aim of the site is to promote Christianity -- to the extent that rather than a Like button, there is an Amen button. Think "godbook", if you will. Of course there are restrictions -- religion isn’t meant to be fun, you know. On the list of banned content is violence and pornography, swearing (there are literally hundreds of banned words), anything that violates "biblical principles", and depicting or referring to homosexual activity.

Clearly this is a social network with a particular market in mind, and it has already attracted more than 100,000 users. For now Facegloria is only available in Portuguese, but there are plans to expand into other languages. Speaking to AFP, web designer Atilla Barros said: "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".

The network is policed by a team of 20 volunteers, on the lookout for any content that could damage the fabric of society. The aim is to attain 10 million users in the next two years, with a boost in numbers expected from an upcoming mobile app.

Just like Facebook, anyone is free to sign up for Facegloria. But if you do, you had better be on your best, most biblical behavior, or you may find that your content is censored, or even that your account is shut down. And if you happen to be a gay Evangelical Christian, you might be best not shouting about it on Facegloria -- save that for Facebook, yeah?

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