CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan -- banned now from Facebook -- will be part of a Facebook Live broadcast on Thursday, hosted by Father Michael Pfleger at Saint Sabina Church.
Pfleger, an anti-violence activist, said whoever wants to be on Facebook should be allowed on Facebook. That includes Farrakhan and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he said.
Facebook banned the two figures last week as part of a crackdown on what the social-media platform calls hate speech.
But Pfleger disagrees with the strategy.
"You have a choice to choose what you do or do not want to see or read,” he said Monday. “But I get very concerned when they start deciding they're going to be Big Brother to me and decide what they want me to hear or not hear."
Pfleger has invited Farrakhan to Saint Sabina on Thursday evening to speak his mind.
"We will be streaming it live on Facebook,” he said, “and I'll be inviting everybody in the sanctuary to pull out their phones and stream it live on Facebook."
Father Pfleger says Farrakhan is his friend, and he says he has never caused any violent action to take place.
Pfleger said Facebook should focus more on keeping violent images off the platform.