TruPlay Games, a Christian digital media company that creates educational Bible-based video games and entertainment, has accused American technology company Google and popular social media platform TikTok of systematically censoring Christian content and has asked Congress to intervene.
In a five-page letter to House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday, officials at the American Center for Law & Justice, which is representing TruPlay Games, says that since 2023, Google has rejected dozens of TruPlay’s advertisements under a policy labeled “Religious belief in personalized advertising.”
“In practice, however, Google applies its ‘Religious belief in personalized advertising’ policy to reject advertisements because they contain religious content, regardless of how the audience is targeted,” ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow writes, along with Nathan J. Moelker, senior associate counsel, and Mark Kelly, the organization’s director of government affairs.
“TruPlay’s ads do not target audiences based on religious belief — they advertise Christian gaming content to general audiences interested in family entertainment, children’s education, and mobile gaming.”
The ACLJ officials said Google rejected advertising such as: “Turn Game Time Into God Time,” “Christian Games for Kids,” and “Safe Bible Games for Kids.”
“These ads target general demographics (parents, families with children, mobile game users) and geographic regions — not audiences selected based on religious belief. Yet, Google has continued to reject them under the religious belief policy,” they argue.
“TruPlay’s campaigns do not use religious status as a targeting criterion. This suggests Google interprets ‘personalized advertising’ so broadly that virtually any advertising for ‘religious products or topics’ is prohibited, regardless of whether religious groups are targeted at all,” they add. “If this interpretation is correct, then Google’s policy effectively bars practically all advertising for religious content, while the policy language suggests only audience-religion-based targeting is restricted.
Officials at ACLJ argue that TikTok treated TruPlay in a similar fashion as Google and permanently suspended the company’s advertising account for “repeated violations.”
“TikTok even refused to allow TruPlay to run ads if TruPlay included a cartoon image of Jesus on the cross as one of the Apple App Store preview pictures, regardless of the content of any particular advertisement,” they note. “Simply having a picture of Jesus was enough to ban advertisements. After multiple ad rejections, TikTok escalated its enforcement by permanently suspending TruPlay’s advertising account, citing alleged ‘repeated violations’ of its advertising policies.”
“This is repeated behavior in the dozens,” TruPlay CEO Brent Dusing told FOX Business. “We would get rejections multiple times a week.”
Dusing insists that he’s pushing for fairness because both Google and TikTok represent a significant share of the digital advertising market.
“When you lose those platforms, you lose a massive ability to reach your potential audience,” he told FOX Business.
The ACLJ is now calling on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the two companies to ensure fairness in access to digital content.
“We respectfully urge the Committee to investigate Google and TikTok’s religious content advertising policies and their application. We also suggest that the Committee promptly hold hearings regarding these restrictions so that solutions can be found to ensure that the digital marketplace remains open to those with religious beliefs and viewpoints,” they argue.
“The systematic suppression of Christian content — particularly family-friendly content designed for children — represents a serious threat to religious liberty in the digital age.”
Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost
