Facebook page of SMNI News unavailable

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 15) — The Facebook page of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) has become unavailable about two months after its original YouTube channel was taken down.

Accessing the link of the SMNI page on Facebook as of Friday will show the notice, “This content isn't available right now. When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.”

The media network has since put up another Facebook page “SMNI Public Affairs,” which one of its hosts, former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson Lorraine Badoy, earlier said acts as a “backup page.”

CNN Philippines has sought a statement from Facebook parent’s company Meta on why the SMNI page is unavailable.

Earlier, Facebook users who attempted to like posts from SMNI received a notice from the social media platform stating, “This Page has shared posts that violate our Community Standards. Review posts on this Page before liking it.”

The news channel is known to have been used by its hosts to red-tag journalists and human rights activists in the country.

It is the broadcasting arm of Philippine megachurch leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is facing several charges in the United States for sex trafficking, fraud, coercion, and bulk cash smuggling charges.

In June, YouTube also terminated Quiboloy’s channel due to violation of its guidelines. This was after a user on X (formerly Twitter) flagged that the "Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy" account continues to post videos despite the televangelist's standing arrest warrant with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A month after, YouTube also took down the channels of SMNI and Quiboloy’s megachurch Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Since then, SMNI has created a different YouTube account called "Sonshine Media."